Story About Michael Jackson 2005 Trial

Michael Jackson 2005 Child Molestation Trial

Here's the story how we were led to the Michael Jackson trial in 2005. This was not planned and nor did I realize that Michael Jackson would become a vast part of my future and overtake my business ventures.

It was February 27, 2005 and my mentor, Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson asked me to go down to the Michael Jackson Trial that was a 2 and a half hour drive from my home. My first thought was I couldn't do it because I had to sell advertising for my TV Show "TruTalk: Straight Outta LA" that was executive produced by a man named John Henry but I didn't have the heart to tell him no.

In the months prior, August of 2004, I met and he agreed to help me edit my TruTalk Shows. By this time I was given the raw footage of 13 Trutalk TV Talk Shows that I produced and hosted. I promised to pay him when I got some money and I did.

Well when Dr. Hutchinson called and asked me to pass out flyers so he could be a commentator like he was during the OJ Trial, Cecil was with me and told me that he'd go with me and we could do a TruTalk Show from the trial. I became so excited and told Cecil "yes that is a GREAT idea", so 2 days later, Cecil and I went down to the Santa Maria Courthouse; me all made up ready to record from the sidewalk.

Well when we arrived, we met the media manager, his name was Peter Shaplen, and he asked me what media source I was from and I told him I had my own 30 minute Talk Show called "Trutalk" and it was available to nearly a million people on the Time Warner Cable Network Channel 101 airing in Los Angeles at midnight. He asked how he could verify it and I gave him my account executives card.

Well minutes later, Mr. Shaplen yells out "Trutalk" and he told us we qualified for a media credential, which came as a surprise because all I had hoped for was that the police allowed us to record on the sidewalk, but I actually got into the courtroom that day and many days after that too! WOW! Me, Cecil and my Elbow Grease Productions were the ONLY Black-owned media credentialed to cover the trial. Just Wow!

Many fans don't realize that it cost me $2000 per month to air those TV shows, plus the cost of travel and production cost was all done by me at this point because everyone that helped to produce the original 13 episodes had abandoned me and it was up to me to move the project to the next level.

Also we were charged to be at the trial as media as well. The total cost for airing the shows that detailed the facts of the trial was $7500 plus all the expenses incurred with transferring them to a method which was required by Time Warner to air them. So in all, it probably cost me $10,000 to just produce and air the 13 Trutalk TV Shows about Michael Jackson's trial.

It was as if I was the lone media correspondent who told the truth, along with William Wegener, who was the local public access, which was FREE to William to air, but since my shows were independently privately produced on LEASED access, I had to pay for everything.

I am NOT a rich person, rather poor, but I had the will, the determination and enough love and appreciation for the little boy who I couldn't imagine growing up without. I am crying now just the thought of not having him and his brothers as a part of my chlldhood.

Despite whatever love I had for Michael, I knew if MJ was guilty of child molestation, he needed to be punished just as anyone else who committed a crime. So I came prepared to be a professional non-biased journalist.

It was the first day of court and I heard the sister's accuser, Davilan, say she "didn't know her father molested her until her mother told her that", which I took as her way of saying her mother told them to lie about MJ molesting her brother, and she even said the same thing again, to be sure who ever was listening carefully would ascertain her meaning.

At that point, I listened and came to trial at least once or twice a week. I couldn't afford to go there everyday because I had to sell advertising to pay for it and produce the shows to which neither me or Cecil had much experience doing.

I do have a Bachelor's of Arts Degree in Radio/TV/Film and I got my business license in 2004 for Elbow Grease Productions.

Of course, there's more to this story, so please watch

"Michael Jackson The Trial and Triumph of the King of Pop" today and June 25, 2009 at 6 & 9pm PST on and on channel 6 in Los Angeles and Las Vegas on Dish Network and in Miami on Channel 9

Oh by the way, Joe and Michael approved of our coverage and documentary and it was Papa Joe Jackson that called me several times telling me he wanted to purchase our documentary that was first called "Behind the Scenes at the Michael Jackson Trial". Then out of the blue, a man called and said he wanted to distribute our documentary and we signed a contract just 7 weeks before it was announced that MJ had "died".

Over a year after the "death" announcement of Michael Jackson and the release of MJ's AEG contract showing the address, I learned that Rock City, our new distributor that never said he was connected to Papa Joe, had the same address as the Michael Jackson Company. So that would prove that it was with MJ's help we were distributed by Warner Bros, and our PROOF of MJ's innocence was distributed in over 20 countries. But the very sad part, we were not paid properly, had to sue the distributor for payment that was a legal maneuver that I don't want to talk about, and still to this day, we don't know how many units were sold AND HAVE DISCOVERED WE WERE STILL NOT PAID PROPERLY.

But it's GREAT FOR MICHAEL the world got to know the facts about Michael JOE Jackson's innocence.