There is no active case against Michael Jackson today.
In September 1994, Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti and
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon announced that after a
13-month investigation in which 400 witnesses were interviewed, no charges
would be filed against Michael Jackson. The boy who had accused him of
misconduct had declined to testify against him in court in any possible
prosecution. The formal investigation concluded in Sept. 1994 and the case
is closed. However, under California law, cases involving minors expire
six years from the date of any alleged accusation, and in this particular
case, the statute of limitations expires in 1999.
On September 12, 1997, the ABC television program 20/20 aired a Michael
Jackson interview. During the introduction, Barbara Walters said in
reference to the investigation: "By the way, we checked with the District
Attorneys in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara and learned that there is no
active case against Mr. Jackson today."
Lightweight news outlets that refer to "charges" of child molestation
against Michael are incorrect, as this word carries the distinct legal
meaning that an actual criminal prosecution was begun against him. Neither
of two grand juries convened to review the evidence returned an indictment
against MJ, and he was neither arrested nor charged with a crime. Some
news organizations also conflate the criminal investigation with the civil
lawsuit filed against him by his accusers, saying that the criminal case
was dropped after he settled out of court. In reality, the two proceedings
were legally separate, and it would have been illegal for his accusers to
accept money in exchange for silence.
(USA Today, TIME) |
