Gaz has been asking me to write a commentary about the trial for weeks now. Unfortunately doing the summaries literally left me no time to write anything until now..
- My take on the testimony after 3 weeks of testimony -
Initially I thought I was ready for this trial. We have been waiting for years for this trial to start, we had had several delays I strongly felt that it was time for it to start. I also had a plan for the coverage of the trial. So I was ready but boy I was so wrong.
The first day of the trial and the picture of Michael on the gurney would have made me physically ill and it would remind me that what we are dealing with here. No we would never be ready for this but it wasn't the time for weakness. We need to get ourselves up from the floor and continue our work..
My initial impression of the Prosecution was that they were very well prepared and organized. They seemed effective and time just confirmed my initial impression. Prosecution is doing a wonderful job. Perhaps their strongest point is that they are keeping the case and their main points simple so that the jurors can easily understand.
Defense was on the other hand a stark difference. On the very first day I wondered if they were that weak and could be that disorganized or if it was actually an act. I couldn't help but remember Jose Baez from Casey Anthony trial and how he seemed like an underdog but actually went to win that lawsuit. My opinions about the defense is still the very much same. Over the 3 weeks we have seen disorganization, confusing questions, hard to understand train of thoughts and even sometimes asking questions that would make the prosecutions points and even calling their client a liar. Currently I personally cannot see where they are going..
There have been some shocking revelations during testimony. Gurney photo and autopsy pictures are first two. As I said in the very first paragraph, although we knew about them, none of us were prepared for them. Although they have created quite a discussion and criticism, I believe they were needed to humanize Michael ( so that the jurors will not see him as this immortal artist but a dead human being) and make the stark difference that he was performing on a stage a few hours earlier and now was lying dead on a gurney. Prosecution is trying to make the point that there was no reason for him to die - except Murray's so called treatment.
Kenny Ortega's email and Dileo's voice mail was also interesting revelations and quite a learning experience. Those two men had tried to help Michael by Kenny suggesting a psychologist and Dileo suggesting testing Michael. That showed that they cared. Unfortunately people were quick to jump to conclusions after Michael's death and accuse these people of not caring for Michael and even portraying them as responsible parties in Michael's death when they didn't know what they did or didn't do. Obviously this is a hard pill to swallow for that group of people but it should be a lesson to us all. The saddest thing was that even though they tried, they were getting shut down by Murray saying that Michael was healthy and they should let him be the doctor.
May 10 recording was the other shocking revelation. I still cannot figure out why Murray would record Michael in that situation but with that recording we saw the pure heart of Michael. Even though he was under the influence he was thinking about helping the children by building a children's hospital. I hope that first of all this would change the general public's opinion about Michael and that it becomes a reality in the future.
Now the significant witnesses
- Kenny Ortega did a good job of portraying Murray as the person who shot them down when they were worried about Michael. He showed that Murray controlled all of Michael's care.
- Paul Gongaware did a good job of showing the greed of Murray.
- Kathy Jorrie again showed Murray's focus on money as well as his assurance of Michael is healthy.
(on a semi related side note : after listening to Paul Gongaware and Kathy Jorrie I believe Katherine Jackson's lawsuit against AEG would be a hard case)
- Michael's bodyguards and chef : They were helpful in explaining what happened that day and even portray Murray as hiding evidence. Defense was able to raise question about some of their actions (such as Kai Chase not going to get the security and the bodyguards doing what they are told). I think it would all depend on the jury and whether they would see these people as hired help that does what they ordered to do or not.
- Paramedics and ER Doctors who effectively showed that Murray kept information from them and that "MJ was down for a few minutes" was probably a lie.
- Murray's girlfriends has demonstrated what Murray was paying attention to at that moment as well as how Murray bragged about being the doctor of Michael.
- Elissa Fleak might have been the weakest person to testify or the person that the defense was most successful in discrediting. However combined with Detective Smith's testimony and the fact that this was not a homicide investigation to start with and it was just a death evaluation, jurors might add 2 and 2 together and see the reason for Fleak's not complete investigation.
- Medical staff and doctors (including toxicologist, coroner and heart and sleep experts) did a wonderful job in holding their ground, demonstrating Murray's gross negligence and his lack of "standard of care". They also successfully debunked some of the defense theories , as well as they made the point that even though Michael self administered any drug they would still place the responsibility on Murray.
One really devastating point from the testimony was that learning that Michael could have been saved with proper technique and if 911 was called sooner. It's such a sad thing to hear and honestly it makes me more angrier towards Murray and makes me wanna shout "murderer" from roof tops.
How about the outcome of the case? Well although I am highly impressed by the prosecution, how they presented their case and most of their witnesses, it's too early to tell or start to celebrate. We need to watch and see what the defense has under their sleeve. Only after hearing both sides we can have a batter understanding of what we are dealing with. Even after that the outcome will be solely determined by 12 people..
- My take on the testimony after 3 weeks of testimony -
Initially I thought I was ready for this trial. We have been waiting for years for this trial to start, we had had several delays I strongly felt that it was time for it to start. I also had a plan for the coverage of the trial. So I was ready but boy I was so wrong.
The first day of the trial and the picture of Michael on the gurney would have made me physically ill and it would remind me that what we are dealing with here. No we would never be ready for this but it wasn't the time for weakness. We need to get ourselves up from the floor and continue our work..
My initial impression of the Prosecution was that they were very well prepared and organized. They seemed effective and time just confirmed my initial impression. Prosecution is doing a wonderful job. Perhaps their strongest point is that they are keeping the case and their main points simple so that the jurors can easily understand.
Defense was on the other hand a stark difference. On the very first day I wondered if they were that weak and could be that disorganized or if it was actually an act. I couldn't help but remember Jose Baez from Casey Anthony trial and how he seemed like an underdog but actually went to win that lawsuit. My opinions about the defense is still the very much same. Over the 3 weeks we have seen disorganization, confusing questions, hard to understand train of thoughts and even sometimes asking questions that would make the prosecutions points and even calling their client a liar. Currently I personally cannot see where they are going..
There have been some shocking revelations during testimony. Gurney photo and autopsy pictures are first two. As I said in the very first paragraph, although we knew about them, none of us were prepared for them. Although they have created quite a discussion and criticism, I believe they were needed to humanize Michael ( so that the jurors will not see him as this immortal artist but a dead human being) and make the stark difference that he was performing on a stage a few hours earlier and now was lying dead on a gurney. Prosecution is trying to make the point that there was no reason for him to die - except Murray's so called treatment.
Kenny Ortega's email and Dileo's voice mail was also interesting revelations and quite a learning experience. Those two men had tried to help Michael by Kenny suggesting a psychologist and Dileo suggesting testing Michael. That showed that they cared. Unfortunately people were quick to jump to conclusions after Michael's death and accuse these people of not caring for Michael and even portraying them as responsible parties in Michael's death when they didn't know what they did or didn't do. Obviously this is a hard pill to swallow for that group of people but it should be a lesson to us all. The saddest thing was that even though they tried, they were getting shut down by Murray saying that Michael was healthy and they should let him be the doctor.
May 10 recording was the other shocking revelation. I still cannot figure out why Murray would record Michael in that situation but with that recording we saw the pure heart of Michael. Even though he was under the influence he was thinking about helping the children by building a children's hospital. I hope that first of all this would change the general public's opinion about Michael and that it becomes a reality in the future.
Now the significant witnesses
- Kenny Ortega did a good job of portraying Murray as the person who shot them down when they were worried about Michael. He showed that Murray controlled all of Michael's care.
- Paul Gongaware did a good job of showing the greed of Murray.
- Kathy Jorrie again showed Murray's focus on money as well as his assurance of Michael is healthy.
(on a semi related side note : after listening to Paul Gongaware and Kathy Jorrie I believe Katherine Jackson's lawsuit against AEG would be a hard case)
- Michael's bodyguards and chef : They were helpful in explaining what happened that day and even portray Murray as hiding evidence. Defense was able to raise question about some of their actions (such as Kai Chase not going to get the security and the bodyguards doing what they are told). I think it would all depend on the jury and whether they would see these people as hired help that does what they ordered to do or not.
- Paramedics and ER Doctors who effectively showed that Murray kept information from them and that "MJ was down for a few minutes" was probably a lie.
- Murray's girlfriends has demonstrated what Murray was paying attention to at that moment as well as how Murray bragged about being the doctor of Michael.
- Elissa Fleak might have been the weakest person to testify or the person that the defense was most successful in discrediting. However combined with Detective Smith's testimony and the fact that this was not a homicide investigation to start with and it was just a death evaluation, jurors might add 2 and 2 together and see the reason for Fleak's not complete investigation.
- Medical staff and doctors (including toxicologist, coroner and heart and sleep experts) did a wonderful job in holding their ground, demonstrating Murray's gross negligence and his lack of "standard of care". They also successfully debunked some of the defense theories , as well as they made the point that even though Michael self administered any drug they would still place the responsibility on Murray.
One really devastating point from the testimony was that learning that Michael could have been saved with proper technique and if 911 was called sooner. It's such a sad thing to hear and honestly it makes me more angrier towards Murray and makes me wanna shout "murderer" from roof tops.
How about the outcome of the case? Well although I am highly impressed by the prosecution, how they presented their case and most of their witnesses, it's too early to tell or start to celebrate. We need to watch and see what the defense has under their sleeve. Only after hearing both sides we can have a batter understanding of what we are dealing with. Even after that the outcome will be solely determined by 12 people..
