Thread by @tuxcrazy

[0] MEGATHREAD: Timeline of Michael Jackson's acquittal today, 15 years ago on June 13th 2005. G-docs version here (sources/formatting will be added over next few days) docs.google.com/document/d/1dk…

#MichaelJacksonVindicated

[1] Aug ‘00: Michael Jackson meets the Arvizo family, who would later accuse him of molesting Gavin Arvizo. Gavin Arvizo was a cancer patient during this time, who asks to meet MJ through comedian Jamie Masada.

[2] After the first meeting in Neverland and Gavin’s cancer went into remission MJ and the Arvizos did not have much contact, till Fall of 2002, during the filming of Living of Michael Jackson.

[3] Nov ‘01- Mar ‘03: Janet Arvizo, Gavin’s mother, commits welfare fraud by collecting $18,782 in welfare payments. She pleads no contest in 2006 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertain…

[4] 6 Feb ‘03: Living with Michael Jackson, a documentary by Martin Bashir is released. It sparks controversy due to MJ’s unflattering portrayal and Bashir suggesting that MJ’s friendships with families had sinister motives.

[5] The Arvizos were invited back to Neverland by MJ for the filming of the film. During the film, Bashir implies that 13 y/o Gavin, who is since cured of cancer, is being molested. This launches an investigation.

[6] Feb 14-27: LA Department of Child/Family services investigate MJ. In a confidential report based on interviews with the family, the report concluded that these accusations are unfounded. Source: nytimes.com/2003/12/19/us/…

[7] In these interviews, the family denies any sexual abuse or improper conduct. Janet and Gavin Arvizo both state that they were never left alone with MJ and that he never shared a bed with MJ as MJ slept on the floor.

[8] Feb 23: MJ releases a rebuttal to the Bashir doc called Take Two: the footage you were never meant to see, comprising of footage shot by his own personal cameras, which brought Bashir’s manipulative editing and two-faced nature to light.

[9] During its making, the Arvizos denied accusations of improper conduct on tape. Their interview was shot on Feb 20, but wasn’t included in the final cut.

https://twitter.com/JaDversary/status/1271925321965563905

[10] Mar ‘03: Janet Arivzo hires civil attorney William Dickerman, claiming MJ’s staff harassed and followed the Arvizos. There were no claims of molestation.

[11] May ‘03: Dickerman refers Arvizos to Larry Feldman, who negotiated the multi-million dollar settlement with the Chandlers in ‘93.

[12] Jun ‘03: Gavin Arvizo alleges abuse in the presence of psychologist Dr. Katz, who also evaluated Jordan Chandler in 1993. Feldman reports the allegations to the Santa Barbara DA Tom Sneddon, who opens a case.

[13] Jul-Sep '03: Investigators conduct several interviews with the Arvizos, in which they issue various contradictory statements. …onallegationsblog.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/the-mi…

[14] 25 Oct ‘03: MJ is presented with the Key to Las Vegas.

[15] 28 Oct ‘03: MJ debuts new charity single “What more can I give” on Radio Music Awards. The commercial release is eventually halted due to later events.

[16] 16 Nov ‘03: MJ releases compilation album “Number Ones” with brand new single “One more chance”, topping charts in various countries. It reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 13 on Billboard hot 100.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_More_…

[17] 17 Nov ‘03: Prosecution file statement of probable cause. …onallegationsblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/plugin…

[18] 18 Nov ‘03: The LAPD raid Neverland after the album release and during the filming of the music video for “One more chance”. theguardian.com/world/2003/nov…
An incomplete version is released after MJ's passing in 2009

[19] 18 Nov '03 : MJ flies to authorities and surrenders to an arrest. His bail is set at $3 Million.

[20] 18 Dec ‘03: Initial complaint is filed against MJ accusing him of child molestation. …onallegationsblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/121803…

[21] Jan 6 ‘04: Mark Geragos, MJ’s lead attorney reveals that MJ has an “iron-clad” alibi for multiple dates of the alleged molestation ( Feb 7 to Feb 10 according to the initial complaint.) today.com/popculture/ger…

[22] Jan 16 ‘04: Michael Jackson pleads not guilty in court.

[23] Mar ‘04. The FBI begin assisting the Santa Barbara County in their investigations. (vault.fbi.gov/Michael%20Jack…) They aid in scanning MJ’s hard drives, which results in no evidence being found.

[24] 21 Apr '04: Michael Jackson is indicted by the Grand jury to stand trial.

[25] 25 Apr ‘04: Tom Mesereau replaces Mark Geragos as Michael Jackson's lead attorney latimes.com/archives/la-xp…

[26] 30 Apr ‘04: A fresh conspiracy charge is added.The prosecution review the outtakes of Take Two, which included the Arvizo family denying molestation on Feb 20 '03 . Due to the alibi being revealed, the molestation charges are pushed back and ....

[27] a conspiracy charge for abducting the family is added. To paraphrase @CEThomson and Rolling stone magazine:

[28] Keep in mind this is after the Bashir documentary had aired and the entire world had seen Gavin’s face. MJ was simultaneously under investigation during this time period. Before Feb 20th, the Arvizos had had contact with MJ for 3 years.

[29] 2004: The prosecution hired 9 fingerprint experts along with every "conceivable expert in areas such as accident reconstruction, computer graphics, DNA, forensic accounting, finance, criminalistics, telephones, acoustics, security systems, child molestation, psychology...

[30] ..., pathology, and jury consulting. The trial ended up costing the county $2.7 million cbsnews.com/news/jackson-t…

[31] Dec 4 ‘04: LAPD raid Neverland ranch again.
abc.net.au/news/2004-12-0…

Vid of '03 raid:

[32] 28 Feb '05. Trial begins in court with opening statements from both sides.

[33] 4 May '05 Prosecution finishes presenting their case. Defense begins rebuttal case.

[34] 2 Jun '05 Closing arguments begin from prosecution and defense.

[35] 13 Jun '05. After 8 days of Jury deliberation, 14 days in court and more than two years of investigations, Michael Jackson is acquitted of all 14 counts against him. See footage here 👉

[36] For more info on the trial, I highly recommend:
1. Pirates in Neverland by @ReasonBound and @CEThomson :
2. Arian Foster "Why I changed my mind":

[37] I would also like to specially thank @JuliaBerkowitz1 , whose website provided an excellent summary of the case and hosted court documents and well as the transcripts. themichaeljacksonallegations.com/the-court-tran…

[38] I would like to close by quoting Gavin Arvizo himself:

"All he wanted to do was good. That's all he cared about. He told me, 'Listen, I need you to get better, you are going to get better. I need you to eat up the cancer cells like Pac-man'. I never forgot that"

[39] As a bonus, here are two more links for legal analysis of the 2005 trial and why it failed to convict MJ

1. supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commenta…
2. supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commenta…

*14 weeks in court