I used to work for a judge who spent a lot of time in the superior court system here in GA - about 20 years.
He says that when he started on the bench, child molestation allegations were few and far between, and they were almost always true and the alleged perps found guilty. But in the last 5 years he spent on the trial court bench (about 10 years ago), he started seeing child molestation allegations brought into EVERY divorce trial. Now the courts are seeing not only false allegations brought by bitter ex-wives and ex-girlfriends (and even in a couple of cases by the ex-HUSBAND against the ex-wife), but also extortion schemes and revenge allegations by disgruntled friends/neighbors/etc.
It is not beyond the realm of probability for a grifter or grifters to latch onto somebody as obviously certifiably WEIRD as Jackson. And some prosecutors are still in the old-fashioned 15-years-ago mode that, if a child alleges molestation, it must be true.
Jackson looks like a molester to me. But my private opinion doesn't amount to a conviction in a court of law. The prosecutor has to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
I didn't follow this case too closely, but it may be that the prosecutor just didn't manage to do that, plus he was handicapped by the grifter background of the complaining witness's mom. The jury is authorized to disbelieve ALL her testimony if she is shown to have lied on some particular, they may have believed that she put her son up to it. And, of course, that does happen.
Howlin, I understand your concern that a pedophile may have dodged a bullet here. But the legal safeguards are not just there to protect the guilty - they also protect you and me if somebody with a grudge decides to run to the DA with a cooked up story and a coached child. If we start cutting corners because we "know" somebody is guilty, that's a recipe for disaster because it will put the unpopular and the different into prison or the electric chair for sure.
I think that is a factor that we didn't used to think existed, but now does.
I don't know what to think about Jackson. It really could be that in his regressed man-child mind, he really thinks he is also 10 years old, or some kind of Peter Pan, and that he really isn't sexual in any more mature way than any other 10 year old who giggles about sex. It's possible.
I think his weirdness definately gives him some license to do things in evidence that would be damning if it was someone less weird.
AMEN! I've heard some horrible stories of men getting railroaded by a vicious ex. They didn't have enough money to defend themselves, and have their photos plastered on websites, job opportunities are no longer there, and they have to be careful where they live.
I mentioned earlier up the thread about these people getting an attorney and filing a class action lawsuit to have their cases reviewed.