Everybody has a special place in life. It could be a stream where you sit, it could be a tree that you sit under, a home where you grew up, or just being with somebody you love. For Michael Jackson, that special place was Neverland. And when he could, he made Neverland real.
And to Neverland he brought all the children who were lost, who lacked something in their life. Kids whose parents didn't love them, kids whose parents couldn't provide for them, and in this case a child who was wracked with the most horrible type of cancer, and when these children were in Neverland, they were able to laugh and play and be free. Their hearts soared and they were loved.
And this young man came to Neverland, and he was loved, and through this love of Neverland and through whatever blessings that came to him, this young man was cured, and that is really the wonder of what Michael Jackson built.
But into Neverland, which was a dream made real, just like every dream made real, came the reality of the world. The greed of all of the witnesses who testified one after another with financial motive in this case. Suing Michael Jackson, owing Michael Jackson money, and then this mother, this mother of this young man, bringing these children from their innocence, through the hard times of his cancer, but then also involving them in her world of untruths, of lies, because children do lie.
The J.C. Penney case is just the start of what is happening to Michael Jackson. It is the pattern, the practice. It's where the mother first got these children directly to be involved in the legal system and to do so in a false manner. She sent them to acting school to
get their story right. That's what we heard. The young brother with this fantastical story of just happening to walk into the room during the two key molests that are part of this case. Ridiculous, unbelievable, but he gave it to you straight in the eye as if it were true.
Children do lie. And this young man, the accuser who on videotape in front of the press, in front of the public, said, “I love Michael Jackson. He's been so good to me,” when Neverland started to crumble, changed his story. You heard on the witness stand different versions, changing of these events, and then you saw the videotape at the end of the trial. You could see how that was so different from his testimony in this court as he grew to learn how to improve his story.
Ladies and gentlemen, children lie. And Michael Jackson, as innocent, as naive as he was, has never, never molested a child. He paid money originally to the first kid. He never should have, because that started the train of people saying I want money too. There's a decade of gap with no molestation accusations. Macaulay Culkin told you it didn't happen.
Now what is going to win? Greed and money or innocence and kindness? That is in your hands.
I ask you to go back there into that jury room and deliberate, not just on what is true and not true, but realize that you have the dream of Neverland, but also the life of a very real person, Michael Jackson, in your hands. Please come back quickly with a not guilty verdict. Thank you.