(Court TV) —
Court TV Host: We're going to be chatting about the Michael
Jackson case with jury consultant
Marshall Hennington. He was on Catherine Crier Live last night, and he's
joining us right now to continue the discussion.
Court TV Host: Welcome, Marshall Hennington. Thanks for being our
guest today.
Court TV Host: Anything you didn't get a chance to say on TV last
night that you'd like to start with here?
Marshall Hennington: Thank you. I would like to mention that this
is a case in which there have been numerous accusations that have been
flying around, and we're not even at the trial stage yet -- in terms of the
accusers, the witnesses, the family members, and the defendant and his role
in this unusual circumstance. First off, Michael Jackson is an international
celebrity, and if they have the trial in Santa Maria, people are still going
to know who he is, and they're going to have opinions about his guilt or
innocence. What's going to be challenging from the perspective of both sides
will be to tap into how many jurors are going to support his case and which
jurors, or which type of juror, is not going to support his case. That is
why pre-trial research is conducted in these high-profile trials, so that
each side has a chance and opportunity to know which type of juror is good
for them and which type is bad for them. I did not have a chance to
elaborate on that last night. Some of the toxic issues that are going to
come up and that Michael Jackson and his team of litigators are going to
have to address, are: did Michael Jackson in fact molest a cancer patient?
how is he going to explain how sleeping with a total stranger is appropriate
behavior, let alone with an underage child? In addition to that, if the 1993
evidence is admitted, then perhaps a pattern of this type of conduct will be
shown to jurors. And if that's the case, then I really believe that the
Jackson defense team has to really devise some elaborate strategies to
counter this.
Question from THEHANGINGJUDGE: Have you been
approached at all about the Jackson case itself? Approached is a strong word. Let's say that there has been interest, but I
don't want to elaborate any more about where the interest has come from.
Question from mistyva: Will MJ have option of
jury or no jury? There's going to be a jury trial --
it's not going to be a court trial. He doesn't have the option of having the
trial in front a judge. In the state of California, it's a jury trial. I'll
tell you what's going to be interesting about this case: a couple of issues
will be: will Michael Jackson's celebrity status supercede his race? Another
issue is, for individuals that have children, how will Michael Jackson's
team feel to them, knowing that this could have possibly have happened to
their child, if their child was left alone with Mr. Jackson. Another issue
in addition to that, is the issue that he, Michael Jackson, settled the 1993
case for a reported $20 million -- if you're innocent, why do you settle?
Some people may feel that he bought justice.
Question from Fleep-CTV: Why do lawyers need jury
consultants, isn't filtering the jury part of their job?
Because a lot of attorneys don't have good common
sense. I know some high powered attorneys who don't have good common sense.
They need the assistance of someone like myself who has a PhD in
understanding human behavior to help them relate to jurors, and more
importantly, to have the jurors embrace their case. Lawyers rely on jury
consultants to give them scientific research that will enable them to know
the strengths and weaknesses of their cases, the problem areas, and to help
counter arguments that will arise during the course of the trial.
Question from lvale: What would a jury of MJ's
peers really be? That's a good question. Michael
Jackson's camp is in the process of addressing that issue. I think it's too
early to tell what the prototype jury will be to help him with his case,
however, from my perspective, it would have to be jurors who think outside
the box, are liberal, and that would also be influenced by his celebrity
status. Those are advantageous jurors for him.
Question from TODD: Wouldn't the fact that
Michael Jackson admittedly shares his bed with young boys be enough for some
jurors to convict him? That could be the case. It
really depends on where people stand on the moral part of the equation. Some
people might say that just because he's in bed with the child doesn't mean
that he was touching the child. And if he was touching the child, who's to
say that he was inappropriately touching the child? He may have just been
playfully wrestling with the child. If that's the case, does that constitute
child molestation? You know what's interesting about this case as compared
to the 1993 case is that he has family members that are speaking out on his
behalf. Some of his family members have said things that could possibly come
back to bite them during trial. I also find it interesting that parents have
given interviews, whereas in 1993, no family members gave interviews. Some
prospective jurors might view this as an act of desperation to minimize the
alleged acts that Michael has been accused of.
Question from CHELE-OHIO: Do you think that
Michael Jackson can get a fair if he is charged?
Question from pepsigirl: Is it possible for MJ to
get a fair trial? The word fair is a purely
subjective term. What's fair to the winning party is not going t be fair to
the losing party. So the long and short of it is that trials are never fair.
All trials require that each party goes above and beyond what is necessary
to win their case.
Question from Fleep-CTV: What can you do about a
case before the actual jury selection process begins? Take a look at Runaway Jury.... Just kidding! My firm offers a number of
services to help cases that have major problems to prevail, to end up on the
winning side at trial. Prior to trial, we meet with clients, experts,
attorneys, as well as conducting mock trials, focus groups, community
attitude surveys, designing jury questionnaire, and literally crafting the
case themes and the opening statements, for the attorneys. We also assist
with grading the juror profiles, as well as assisting with jury selection.
Those are just some of the services we provide before trial.
Question from CindyInWonderland: Have you ever
felt like your firm got a criminal off only to go out and commit more
crimes? If so did it bother you? Each person deals
with their feelings about a client and the dynamics of the case prior to
accepting the case. I've never had any bad feelings about the clients that
my firm represents. We don't represent pedophiles, mass murderers, rapists,
or people that have extremely questionable character. We do represent
companies that have been allegedly involved with wrongdoing, and
individuals. And in my business, you have to have inner strength to deal
with the egos that attorneys have as well as the complexities that will
arise throughout the trial. Because the days in which you have a slam dunk
case are over. Winning verdicts are becoming more difficult to obtain, and
with the tort reform issues, many legislators are discussing putting caps on
damage awards. Therefore in my profession we need to think of other ways to
make the case as compelling as possible, to win a favorable verdict. If
there are any other questions that people may have, they can feel free to
e-mail me through my website,
marshallhennington.com Thank you very much, to all of the people who
have logged on to chat with me, and I'm sure we will have another
opportunity to chat as the trial unravels.
Court TV Host: Thanks, we'll look forward to it. Thank you for
chatting with us today.
