by
Roger Friedman - October 1, 2021 7:59 am
Michael Jackson is moonwalking in heaven today.
The final case against him has been dismissed by a Los Angeles judge.
James Safechuck, one of two men who leveled absurd child molestation allegations against Jackson in the “Leaving Neverland” documentary, has had his case chucked from court. His lawyer was supposed to file an appeal to his last court loss and never did.
Safechuck and Wade Robson each participated in the HBO documentary, “Leaving Neverland,” in which they made unfounded and unsubstantiated claims against Jackson. The filmmaker never gave anyone a chance to respond nor did he present any other side to the stories.
Jackson’s Estate is currently suing HBO and the case has gone to arbitration.
In the meantime, both Robson and Safechuck’s cases, filed 7 years ago, have been thrown out of court.
The case brought by Safechuck was dismissed on demurrer almost a year ago on October 21, 2020. He had nearly a year to file an appeal and chose not to. He can still appeal this dismissal of Judge Mark Young wrote, explaining demurrers: When considering demurrers, courts “are required to construe the complaint liberally to determine whether a cause of action has been stated, given the assumed truth of the facts pleaded.”
You can read the Judge’s complete finding
here. But he didn’t buy that Safechuck, as a child, worked for Michael Jackson or his companies, and that Jackson failed “to warn, train, or educate” him. Safechuck’s case, like that of his pal Wade Robson, was concocted to get money from the Jackson estate because Michael– who died suddenly– failed to leave them anything in a will.
The judge wrote that: “Plaintiff [Safechuck] alleged that Jackson was “hired” by Defendants to coach, teach, and mentor minors interested in the entertainment industry. Setting aside Plaintiff’s allegation that Jackson was the President of both Defendants, Plaintiff has failed to allege specific facts detailing what such mentorship looked like (or was supposed to look like) from 1988 through 1992.”
Safechuck’s lawyer, Vince Finaldi, told TMZ, the day after losing the case that he would file an appeal immediately.”We are going back to court of appeal and we are going to win this thing.” Notes Twitter account @MJJRepository, which has done incredible work keeping track of these cases: “More than 11 months later—with four months of extensions granted—he failed to submit even an opening brief, as required to proceed.”
Another one bites the dust.
-motivated lawsuits.
t already!