Jackson's turned into "Gollum"

Court TV – Rabbi Schmuley Boteach discussing the Jackson trial gave an interesting analogy. “Well you know in the movie Lord of the Rings where Gollum was once a normal and caring hobbit and he gets the ring of power and it brings out all his worst qualities, that ring of power today is fame, I’ve seen Michael Jackson turn into a Gollum, we’ve all seen it , and I’ve seen him ruin the people around him almost by association. They all want to be around a superstar. And they’ll pimp and prostitute their children, I don’t mean sexually, but it brings out truly all their worst qualities, look at this trial, this is a celebrity sewer”
With reference to Janet Arviso’s testimony over the last week, Court TV gives the witness a less hostile critique than reports elsewhere. “Her crime here is she’s too sassy and she talks too much” says Diane Dimond, “but there’s a lot of corroboration here…on so many points she’s right…but she’s the sort of woman who has to tell the whole story in her answers, which is what you shouldn’t do in a court of law.” And as to what the jury will make of it, “hard to tell”.
Most other tabloid media have hinged on either superficial ‘lies’ as opposed to the ‘whole picture’, or the fanciful ideas of Jackson kidnapping her boys in a balloon. Janet Arvizo launched a stinging attack on Mr Jackson saying he "really didn't care about children, he cared about what he was doing with children".
"He managed to fool the world. Now, because of this criminal case, people know who he really is." This statement, despite getting much press coverage, was stricken by Judge Melville – though of course the jury have still have the comments in their mind as they form an impression of her testimony.
The latest testimony has been from the boy’s grandmother. Speaking through an interpreter, the Spanish grandparent said, "Those kids were not my grandchildren. They didn't talk to me the same way. They were different kids." She also backed up the testimony of her daughter, Janet Arviso.

Sky News [here in the UK] are no longer broadcasting the re-enacted trial reports in their main programming. This is mainly do to rolling election coverage. Instead it is only accessible via Sky-Active [press the little red button…] The judge has on many occasions become impatient with both the prosecution and defence lawyers, but has seemed to be consistently fair throughout. Watching the acted parts of Janet Arviso’s testimony was almost comical, animated in parts. Directing comments such as, “please don’t judge me” at the jury as she explained how her son came to sleep in Michael Jackson’s room. The prosecution have said they’ll be finishing their side of the case by next week, so only another two months to go of defence. Who will they call to the stand? According to Celebrity Justice one witness is CNN’s Larry King. And what’s his part in all of this? Apparently “King and famed book publisher Michael Viner were once part of a conversation that could damage the prosecution's case” says CJ. More evidence attacking Janet Arviso is believed to be a part of this evidence. King responds, diplomatically as ever, “"You don't count, I don't count; Michael doesn't count. Only the jurors count. We know what other people tell us, but we weren't there."
[20/04/05]