IN THE NEWS - Trial by Jury and What It Meant in the Michael

IN THE NEWS - Trial by Jury¹ and What It Meant in the Michael Jackson Case
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Saturday, June 18, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

People are not always happy when called to serve on a jury. But jury duty is a responsibility for Americans. A jury decides the facts in a civil or criminal case.

 
 
Trials often last just a day or two. Yet every so often a case goes on and on, and brings reporters from around the world. That is what just happened in a courtroom in Santa Maria, California.

This week, twelve jurors found Michael Jackson not guilty of the charges against him. Now, many people wonder what the future holds for the singer listed in Guinness World Records for best-selling album ever.

His nineteen eighty-two album "Thriller²" has sold more than fifty million copies worldwide. More recently, he has had a hard time again producing hit songs like "Beat It":

(MUSIC)

The case involved a young cancer survivor³ who was thirteen when he first met Michael Jackson. The ten charges said the singer gave the boy alcohol⁴ and sexually⁵ molested⁶ him at the Jackson home, the Neverland Ranch⁷. The charges said he also plotted to hold the boy and his family at Neverland to get them to record a video defending the singer.

At the time, two years ago, Michael Jackson was facing public anger over a British television program. In it, the singer had said he shared his bed, innocently⁹, with children.

Eight women and four men served on the jury. The jurors were between the ages of twenty and seventy-nine. Half said they were fans of Michael Jackson's music. Some of his supporters had protested¹⁰ that there were no black jurors.

The jurors heard fourteen weeks of evidence. Then they met for about thirty hours over seven days. Jurors are told to base their verdicts¹¹ on the facts of the case, not their beliefs. A person is considered innocent⁸ until proven guilty.

The judge gave the jury ninety-eight pages of directions to follow. Jury instructions are traditionally full of legal language. This is so a higher court will not find anything wrong with them if the case is appealed. That is the reasoning, at least. But California and other states are developing clearer instructions.

Since it was a criminal trial, the case had to be proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" in the minds of the jury. Michael Jackson could have faced up to eighteen years in prison.

In comments to reporters, some jurors said they believed he may have been guilty with other boys in the past, but not in this case. Some said they did not trust the accuser's mother, who also gave evidence.

Jackson lawyers argued that the family brought the case for financial gain. In the nineteen nineties, the singer reportedly paid millions of dollars in two settlements with families of young boys.

The family of the accuser could still bring a civil action to ask for money. A jury in a civil case has to decide only by a majority of the evidence. Not all the jurors even have to agree.

IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English, was written by Cynthia Kirk. I'm Steve Ember.

1 jury   

n.陪审团，评委会；adj.临时用的；vt.挑选

参考例句：

• These twelve men are believed to compose the jury.据信，陪审团是由这12人组成的。
• The members of the jury were discharged from their duties.陪审员们被解除了职务。

2 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

3 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

4 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

5 sexually   

adv.性别上地；按性别地；性欲地；两性之间地

参考例句：

• to be sexually promiscuous 性生活淫乱
• I was depressed,withdrawn and sexually frigid. 我郁郁寡欢，离群索居，没有什么性要求。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 molested   

v.骚扰( molest的过去式和过去分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵

参考例句：

• The bigger children in the neighborhood molested the younger ones. 邻居家的大孩子欺负小孩子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He molested children and was sent to jail. 他猥亵儿童，进了监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

8 innocent   

adj.无罪的，清白的；无害的；天真的，单纯的

参考例句：

• I'm not quite so innocent as to believe that.我还不至于简单到相信那种事的地步。
• I was very young,and very innocent.我那时非常年轻，幼稚无知。

9 innocently   

ad.无恶意地，无害地

参考例句：

• 'Oh, Sue went too, did she?' I asked innocently. “哦，休也去了吗？”我故作天真地问道。
• He had innocently blundered into a private dispute. 他稀里糊涂地卷入了一场私人纠纷。

10 protested   

v.声明( protest的过去式和过去分词 )；坚决地表示；申辩

参考例句：

• He protested he was being cheated of his rightful share. 他提出抗议说他被人骗取了他依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Amy protested she was being cheated of her rightful share. 艾米提出抗议，说有人骗取了她依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 verdicts   

（陪审团的）裁决( verdict的名词复数 )； 裁定； （经过试验、检验或体验发表的）决定； 意见

参考例句：

• There was an appeals process, but appeals rarely resulted in reversed verdicts. 上诉程序提供的要求复审的途径不足够。
• The children involved may reach adulthood before the final verdicts are given. 在最后的判决做出前，涉案的孩子可能已长大成人了。