Alcohol
The charges included four counts of administering alcohol to a minor, which the jury could either find was done with intent to molest (a felony charge), or without (a misdemeanor). All three Arvizo children testified that Michael Jackson had served them alcohol. Gavin testified that the first time he ever drank alcohol was in the wine cellar with Jackson, where he allegedly swallowed a quantity of vodka thinking it was water. He testified that after the Miami trip, he was drinking (wine, vodka, rum, bourbon) every night that Jackson was home. However, in an early police interview, he said he "didn't drink a lot" at Neverland. The prosecution's "grooming" theory held that Jackson used alcohol to lower Gavin's inhibitions in order to molest him, and the accuser testified that the first time he was molested, he and Jackson had just come "back from drinking in the arcade." He also described a time when he was undergoing urine tests related to his cancer treatment, and he worried alcohol would be detected, but was allegedly pressured by Jackson to drink anyway and not take the test. Star's first time drinking alcohol, he claimed, was on the flight back from Miami. Jackson allegedly handed him a Diet Coke can filled with wine. Star testified he did not know what the drink was when he tasted it, and that it reminded him of the smell of rubbing alcohol (a comparison Gavin also made) but it seems unlikely Star would not have recognized the taste of wine because, as his brother said, they drank wine in church. Star said Gavin and Michael were sharing the soda can and acting "really weird." However, Cynthia Bell, a flight attendant who had served Jackson on the Miami flight and others, testified that she never saw him share his drink with Gavin or anyone else. She testified that she had come up with the tradition of serving Jackson wine in Diet Coke cans during flights, because "Michael Jackson is a very private drinker" who didn't want the children to see him with alcohol.
Read more about this topic: Trial Of Michael Jackson, The Trial
Famous quotes containing the word alcohol:
“[T]ea, that uniquely English meal, that unnecessary collation at which no stimulants—neither alcohol nor meat—are served, that comforting repast of which to partake is as good as second childhood.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“Men can intoxicate themselves with ideas as effectually as with alcohol or with bang and produce, be dint of serious thinking, mental conditions hardly distinguishable from monomania.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“Some parents feel that if they introduce their children to alcohol gradually in the home environment, the children will learn to use alcohol in moderation. I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. First of all, alcohol is not healthy for the growing child. Second, introducing alcohol to a child suggests that you condone drinking—even to the point where you want to teach your child how to drink.”
—Lawrence Balter (20th century)