Posted on 08/08/2005 1:43:20 PM PDT by COUNTrecount
Two of the jurors who voted to acquit singer Michael Jackson of child molestation and other charges say they regret their decisions.
Jurors Ray Hultman and Eleanor Cook, who both have pending book deals, planned to appear Monday night on the new MSNBC show "Rita Cosby: Live and Direct."
In a preview shown Monday on NBC's "Today," Cosby asked Cook if the other jurors will be angry with her.
"They can be as angry as they want to. They ought to be ashamed. They're the ones that let a pedophile go," responded Cook, 79.
Hultman, 62, told Cosby he was upset with the way other jurors approached the case: "The thing that really got me the most was the fact that people just wouldn't take those blinders off long enough to really look at all the evidence that was there."
Hultman has said previously that when jurors took an anonymous poll early in their deliberations he was one of three jurors who voted for conviction.
On June 13, the jurors unanimously acquitted Jackson of all charges, which alleged that he molested a 13-year-old boy, plied the boy with wine and conspired to hold him and his family captive so they would make a video rebutting a damaging television documentary.
Explaining the turnaround by Cook and Hultman, Larry Garrison, who is working with both on their separate books and a combined television movie, said all the jurors "had an agreement (to be united) and then basically when they went on 'Larry King Live,' both Eleanor and Ray couldn't tolerate what was going on anymore. They said, 'Enough is enough.'"
Cook told Cosby: "The air reeked of hatred and people were angry and I had never been in an atmosphere like that before."
In June, Hultman told The Associated Press about the verdict: "That's not to say he's an innocent man. He's just not guilty of the crimes he's been charged with."
During an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America" with five other jurors in June, Cook was one of three who raised their hands when asked if they thought Jackson may have molested other children but not the 13-year-old boy.
"We had our suspicions, but we couldn't judge on that because it wasn't what we were there to do," she said at the time.
Hultman's book will be called "The Deliberator" and Cook's is "Guilty as Sin, Free as a Bird," said Garrison. Part of the profits from their book sales will go to charity, he said.
Both were in seclusion and unavailable for comment until after the MSNBC broadcast, Garrison said.
No, Grandma Whack Job Cook should be ashamed of herself for letting the pedophile go.
Is this person COOK nuts..she let him go also....how dare she/he blame them.
It's not the jurors' fault that there was no conviction, it is the District Attorney's fault.
If anyone needs to be ashamed of themselves it's these two who voted innocent when they now claim they believed all along that he was guilty. Must be time to start plugging their books.
What against Jackson was not true?
He had a friggen porn room in his secret bedroom available to his little lover children?
How does one even get past that???
So we should look forward to each juror blaming the other twelve for the acquittal. Will all their books and talkshow tours be handled by the same agent?
It has the reek of cant. Two books I won't buy. Hey, I can tell the Mrs. I saved some $$$ today!
Too little, Too late...
These idiots need to go away - they wore their 15 minutes out already.
They didn't care about justice, just their book deals and appearing on stupid daytime Tee-Vee shows.
"It's not the jurors' fault that there was no conviction, it is the District Attorney's fault."
Isn't is really society's fault? Shouldn't we try to understand the root causes of their behavior and try to shed the collective guilt that we all should feel?
[/makes me sick just typing it sarcasm alert]
Only one good thing came out of that trial - Michael Jackson went away.
"It's not the jurors' fault that there was no conviction, it is the District Attorney's fault."
It IS these juror's fault...for not sticking to their guns. They caved under the pressure. Lawyers reviewing the case said the D.A. did a good job and thought he would get a conviction.
Uh, it's a little bit too late for THAT.
They'll not get one cent from me for some book.
In America, "juror's regret" and a dollar bill, will getcha' a cup of coffee at 7Eleven.
More and more, I have less and less faith in the traditional jury system. Let's go to a 3 judge panel like other countries use.
Screw that jury be united crap. If the bum was guilty, you stick to your guns and say and vote him guilty. Great. Commit a murder, but you ain't gonna be convicted unless the jury is united. Good grief.
Further proof that juries consist of people who are too stupid to get out of jury duty.
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