Michael Jackson Pleads Not Guilty At Arraignment
Date 2004/4/30 9:45:00 | Topic: Michael Jackson's Arrest
| Michael Jackson Pleads 'Not Guilty' At Arraignment
April 30, 2004
Michael Jackson has pleaded "not guilty" to charges brought against him by a grand jury indictment. After being reprimanded on January 16th by Judge Rodney Melville for being 20 minutes late, the King of Pop arrived at the Santa Maria Courthouse 40 minutes early with his attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr.
Once inside, the charges against Michael were read out, and "not guilty" was the plead in response. The charges filed against Michael on December 18th 2003 have now since changed. Before, nine charges were brought including seven counts of committing "lewd and lascivious acts" on a child under the age of 14, and two acts of "administering an intoxicating agent". The timeline for those charges was between February 7th 2003 and March 10th.
The current charges, as a result of the grand jury indictment, now contain ten charges, according to Reuters. However, new charges have been brought, as well as previous ones being dropped.
The charges that have now been brought against Michael are conspiring with "others" to commit crimes of child abduction, four counts of committing "lewd and lascivious acts" on a child under the age of 14, an attempt to have "lewd and lascivious acts" performed by the Accuser, and four counts of "administering an intoxicating agent". The timeline for these charges are between February 20th 2003 and March 12th.
Michael’s response was within a statement provided as a press release that has appeared on MJJSource, "As I have repeatedly said, I am completely innocent of these false charges, and I am ready to fight for my innocence. I have complete confidence in my defense team, and believe that at the end of these legal proceedings, I will be fully exonerated by a jury of my peers."
At the end of the proceedings, both Michael and his attorney made statements to the media before leaving the courthouse.
Michael thanked his fans across the world, as well as his family and the people of Santa Maria. Mesereau shared similar sentiments, at the same time stating "This case is about one thing only. The dignity, integrity, decency, honor, charity, innocence, and complete vindication of a wonderful human being named Michael Jackson."
- www.mjni.com
|
|