Снедън разкарал двама души, които са казали, че са били фенове на Майкъл. Хм... ако трябва да елиминира всички, които някога са истерясвали по него, може би няма да им стигнат хората... :))))


Nine jurors dismissed from Michael Jackson jury pool on Tuesday

By Tim Molloy
ASSOCIATED PRESS

11:55 a.m. February 22, 2005

SANTA MARIA – Nine prospective jurors in the child molestation trial of Michael Jackson were dismissed Tuesday, including three by mutual agreement of the defense and prosecution.

Those jurors included two women who questioned their ability to be fair because of news reports they had seen and a woman who said she was twice falsely accused of abusing children and had been abused herself.

Defense attorneys and prosecutors also dismissed two jurors each. Each side can eliminate 10 jurors without stating a cause.

Without giving reasons, prosecutors dismissed an 18-year-old man who said in court he was a Jackson fan and loved to sing karaoke and a woman who said she once did a cheerleading routine to one of Jackson's songs while in Junior High and she felt sympathy toward Jackson because of molestation allegations involving her relatives.

The defense, without noting any reasons, dismissed a 28-year-old mother of two young children whose own mother works in the district attorney's office and a male juror who said he had three friends who worked for the sheriff's department.

Two jurors were dismissed for hardship, one because he had job interviews and the other because his employer did not pay for long jury service.

Another man was dismissed earlier this month for health reasons, leaving 233 people in the original jury pool.

Jury selection resumed Tuesday after a week's delay, ordered when Jackson was hospitalized with what Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville said was the flu. Jackson, dressed in black, arrived in court Tuesday and chatted with his attorneys at the defense table before jury selection resumed.

Melville told prospective jurors that he understood their frustrations over "a couple of false starts," referring to Jackson's illness and an earlier delay caused by the death of defense attorney Thomas Mesereau's sister.

But, he said, it was not part of a calculated attempt by anyone to slow down the trial. "Mr. Jackson really was sick. He really did have the flu. I talked to his doctor. ... I wouldn't let anyone take advantage of us that way."

Jackson was released from the hospital on Wednesday after being admitted on Tuesday for "flu-like" symptoms.

The judge said several names had been added to the defense's celebrity-studded witness list, including Eddie Murphy, Macaulay Culkin and Smokey Robinson. More than 300 defense names submitted earlier included Kobe Bryant, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross and Jay Leno.

Prosecutors on Tuesday interviewed jury prospects who had previously been questioned by defense attorneys.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen asked the prospects whether they had seen a recent interview with Jackson by Geraldo Rivera that aired on Fox News in which Jackson said many of the stories about him are not true. No one said they had seen it.

Before jury selection was canceled last week, Mesereau asked prospects about their interest in the arts, their feelings toward Jackson, and whether they believed child witnesses could be led to lie. The defense will argue that the mother of Jackson's 15-year-old accuser, a former cancer patient, has told him to lie.

Attorneys are trying to select 12 jurors and eight alternates from a pool of 242 potential jurors. Each side can ask to remove an unlimited number of jurors for bias.

Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting the boy, plying him with wine, and conspiring to hold his family captive.

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