Courtroom details from a fan who got to sit in during the trail

Admin Posts : 2852 Join date : 2009-11-02 Age : 41

Katie Hines, a fighter for JUSTICE4MJ, was one of the lucky few fans to be inside the courtroom yesterday. Here is her take from Monday's hearing:

Hello all you beautiful fellow MJ Fans!

So I had the very unexpected opportunity to go into the actual courtroom for Dr. Murray's hearing. Because of things I have been dealing with lately in my personal life, it hit me in a somber way. In my heart, I felt extremely blessed to be able to go in and represent Michael and all of the wonderful fans. I proudly wore my Justice4MJ shirt, a military jacket, and a beautiful red armband with L.O.V.E. embroidered on it (Thanks, Amy!). I was filled with pride of being a MICHAEL JACKSON FAN. Here's a little bit of the experience through my eyes.

There were six public seats given out through a lottery. They called out the numbers almost immediately after giving the tickets out. When my number was called, I was like "Whaaattt??". So I took it in, it took a second for it to sink in (sorry if this sounds dramatic, but its how it went for me (wink). Then, I knew it was an honor to represent all of the fans in the courtroom. So I, being the school-loving person I am, took NOTES! We went into the first courtroom on the 13th floor, where visibility was EXTREMELY limited. But I could see Murray clearly, and the Jacksons (seated from left to right: Katherine, Janet, Randy, Joe, and Jermaine) were on the other side of the courtroom. While in there, I noticed Joe Jackson go to the back of the room, and when he came back, he had a rose in his hand. I can only assume it was one of the fans' roses Smile

He had it in his jacket the next time I saw him. As soon as we were all settled in there, they moved us to a different department, on the 9th floor, room 107. The case has been given a new judge. His name is Michael E. Pastor. He will be handling this case for all purposes for here on out. He was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown (now the Attorney General) in 1983. Jerry, as we know, is now representing the Medical Board in this case...at least that is what I last heard. The judge came in and went through some kind of legal protocol about how he had written a letter of recommendation for one of the plaintiff side's attorneys but that because he was disclosing it now, he wanted to assure both parties that there would be no bias in the case. So that was done...

This case number is: SA073164, by the way.

I was sitting, along with 5 other fans in the back, but with a much clearer view this time. There was no one in front of us, except for Murray was about 15 feet directly in front of me. He faced forward the entire time, which was awkward because his lawyers had been in another room for about a half hour, leaving Murray in the same room as the Jacksons, now seated about 2 rows and probably 10 or so feet from us. From my left: Jermaine's wife, two teenage girls (I assume they are Jermaine's daughters?), Jermaine, Janet, Katherine, Randy, Joe. Janet kept her sunglasses on the whole time..how Jackson Wink

She also had her arm around Katherine a good majority of the time. It was sweet.

Here came the news: the defense had put a request in for a 90 day continuance. Based on what I understand, the court date was supposed to be set and they were supposed to address the issue of his Medical License being taken away. When the judge asked the plaintiff's side why they weren't okay with the 90 day continuance, they said because the medical licensing issue was dire. The defense came back with their reason being that they just got the case and hadn't had time to thoroughly look at it. The judge granted the 90 days. So nothing was decided yesterday. It was frustrating, but maybe this could be an opportunity to get more evidence against Murray...who knows. All I know is that the man shouldn't be able to practice medicine...period. Among many other things.

At that point, they dismissed the family, and they walked right by me. Katherine looked upset and based on what people said outside the courtroom, she had tears in her eyes. That was the hardest part, looking at Katherine and thinking...gosh, this is all because she lost her son.

So, no "breaking" news, but the next hearing is on June 14, 2010 at 12:30pm.

I wish everyone could've been in there representing a legion of fans who truly love Michael Jackson. I didn't take it for granted. You were all there!

Love to all of you,
Katie Hines