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.
Plenty of evidence was presented. The jurors just decided to do the same silly thing the OJ jurors did.
And that is the bottom line. People can argue about how solid the case was and all of that. But the bottom line is that the juror was convinced that Jackson was guilty. That means the case was good enough for that juror. And she didn't vote that way. In a perfect world she would do about 90 days in jail for failure to execute her sworn duty.
If even one of these idiots had voted guilty, Jackson could have been tried again.
Is Cook the "don't snap your fingers at me, lady" juror? I really tried to look it up, but I could wade only so far into the Michael Jackson trial swamp.
I strongly disagree. In the Simpson case there was overwhelming, reliable evidence. In the Jackson case almost every prosecution witness gave testimony the prosecution didn't expect, or was extremely unreliable. In the Simpson case, jury nullification was the only reason for the jury to ignore the evidence. In the Jackson case, a conviction could only have been the result of jury nullification.
I once actually bought a book for $0.01 on Amazon.com. (It was an Oprah Winfrey cookbook.)
A hypothetical book by the other 10 jurors which explains why the lurid details didn't add up to a crime to them, will not garner as many dollars as either book by the other two. It's simple tabloid sales arithmetic.
For goodnessake if MJ has been not just that naughty but also that promiscuous, then produce "one" kid that the state can make a better case over. It ought to be a cake walk. This case has at least shown that if one steps forward he will not be crucified by all comers (even if ultimately not believed).
Juror Eleanor Cook was upbeat after she and fellow jurors handed down acquittals in the Michael Jackson trial June 13. The 79-year-old grandmother was memorable for recalling her thoughts after the mother of Jackson's accuser snapped her fingers at the jury: "Don't snap your fingers at me, lady!" Now Cook has reportedly claimed she was railroaded into a not-guilty verdict.
My understanding is that there were 17 witnesses who indicated at some point in their testimony that Jackson had molested the boy. The testimony of one alone might be questionable, but when you have that many, it seems clear to me that Jackson was a pedophile. The jury should not have let him off because the testimony of one witness, if standing alone, was questionable. They failed to look at all the evidence.
"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.
Bawawwawawa!
The D.A. should have waited until he had a real case. His own personal motives got in the way of the public good. When almost every witness you put on the stands turns into a surprise, you aren't doing your job correctly.
I expect to see several cartons of them soon after publication at Mike's Warehouse (a local deeply discounted store). I've found bestsellers there for pennies on the dollar. Hopefully this will be marked $0.01 and even if at that price I won't buy it.
Exactly. That was what I was getting at. Just didn't say it that way. Thanks.
This chick is nuts and I refuse to buy her book or anyone on that jury who writes a book on their experience.
I sure hope these losers didn't get too big an advance.
Even at a buck a piece I would never read their trash. Pretending to "regret" letting the pedophile loose won't work with me.
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Commiefornia juries....go figure.
NO YOU LET THE PEDOPFILE GO....BI__H!!!!!
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