Monday, June 29, 2009

Jury Duty & Michael Jackson


So, all of the publicity surrounding Michael Jackson's death has led me to ponder all of the people who are aggressively posting negative and spiteful comments about the deceased Pop Icon. Most of these people seem to still be under the impression that the man was a child molester. It's as if they have no knowledge of the fact that he was tried by a jury of his peers and all charges were dismissed. There simply wasn't any evidence that he had done the things that he was accused of. He wasn't on trial for being weird or eccentric or even mentally stunted. If that had been the case I have no doubt the jury would have found him guilty easily. I wonder how many of these angry hate spewing individuals have ever served on a jury? Serving on a jury and hearing the evidence is much different than just hearing what a case is about. With the O.J. trial we all watched & many of us felt that it was a failure of the system, but does that mean that every high profile case is? No one but the people in the court room hear all of the evidence brought forth. He didn't just settle, he was acquitted and rather quickly. He was cleared. Both of the times that I have been called to jury duty, I have been excited to do my duty as an American. I choose not to join the service (Marines, Navy, Army, National Guard) because I do not want to kill anyone. So what can I do to serve my country? When called to jury duty, do not give false excuses & try to get out of it. Stand up & do my duty. I also look at voting in my local elections and all things brought to a ballot as an important part of my duty as an American citizen. So I wonder about these people right now, posting hateful comments, calling a man who obviously had problems, a child molester, when he has been cleared and exonerated. I wonder, have they been on a jury? Do they understand how the system works? Do they realize that one can be called into a case simply because the judge determines there is reasonable cause to hear what evidence, if any, one side has against the other? I also wonder if they understand that the parents of the children whom were said to be the victims, knowingly left their children with a man whom the whole world had already seen accused once of molestation. They knew & yet they made an informed decision to leave their children with a 40 something year old man that they didn't even know. Doesn't that seem strange? Isn't that behavior just as odd? Doesn't that speak volumes as to the type of people these were? In reality, no one will ever know who Michael Jackson really was except for those closest to him. I'm sure who the media machine made him out to be & who he really was is very different. For me, he broke down color barriers and painted my childhood with wonderful memories & laughter. For that I thank him. He did much charity work throughout his life. He gave back much. Yet despite all of this there are people right now, somewhere, posting how happy they are that this sick twisted child molester is dead. I just wonder...who ARE these people & have they ever served?

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