America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 170. Condemned by All, Declaring War on Sony

Although it was close to noon, people were still arriving at the Santa Barbara City Courthouse.

Perhaps sensing the sincerity, the originally hot weather suddenly turned cloudy, and a breeze picked up, bringing a touch of coolness.

"Hot dogs, cold drinks!"

"How about an ice cream, sir? Or a baked apple pie would be nice too."

"Your clothes are a little damp, why don't you try this?"

Many Santa Barbara residents pushed food carts out to do business, and many vendors sold clothes, hats, signs and other items with slogans such as "Jackson is innocent".

Sales were all quite good, but a court hearing did allow some people to make a small fortune.

Everyone is watching the courthouse, waiting for the doors to open. Fortunately, no conflict has broken out so far, and Mike's fans have been behaving themselves.

The police remained on high alert, hoping the trial would end quickly.

Inside the courtroom, lawyer Meserio produced a cassette tape.

"Your Honor, we have reservations about the psychiatric evaluation report provided by Dr. Mathis."

"Depression and psychological trauma are not easily diagnosed; even the most authoritative doctors can make mistakes."

Masis sneered: "Attorney Meserio, I remind you to watch your words. I am a qualified doctor, and my clinic has a legal certificate issued by the state."

"You're an experienced lawyer; you should know that to challenge someone, you need to provide evidence, not just make empty claims."

Meserio smiled slightly: "Of course, I'm not part of the Avizo family. Without physical evidence, I certainly wouldn't slander someone."

He then walked to the front desk with the tape recording: "Your Honor, this tape is our evidence. Please allow it to be played publicly."

The judge took the tape and glanced at the prosecutor not far away. Of course, it wasn't Tom Schneider; he had already been suspended pending investigation.

She was a new prosecutor transferred from another city, and she had no interaction with Tom Schneider, either in life or at work.

The judge handed the tape to his assistant, and Gadot leaned close to Eric's ear and whispered, "Did you do it?"

Eric felt a thrill as he felt a tickle near his ear.

With the situation looking so promising, he was in an excellent mood and subconsciously slipped his hand under Gadot's skirt: "Of course I did it."

Gadot blushed.

"Don't do that, what if someone sees us?"

"Everyone's attention is on the videotape, who's going to notice us?"

"Well"

But while others might not notice, the woman sitting next to him was constantly observing Eric.

The little girl immediately noticed something was wrong. She glanced at the screen a few times and quickly discovered the clue.

Looking at Gadot's face again, her ears were red, and she knew perfectly well what the two people next to her were doing.

Ao Mei suddenly felt a surge of heat rush to her head, as if she had discovered an incredible secret, and her heart started pounding.

She swallowed hard; her nervousness was no less than when she discovered Eric's affair with his two sisters on the second floor that day.

"You bastard, what a terrible person! Don't you know the difference between occasions?" Olsen thought to himself, feeling both ashamed and indignant.

"Wait, is Eric doing this on purpose for me? Is he trying to seduce me?"

I glanced at Eric secretly and saw a smile on his lips.

Sensing the little girl's movement, Eric looked down at her and said, "Elizabeth, listen carefully, the exciting part is coming."

The young woman nodded blankly, thinking to herself that it was already too wonderful.

As the tape was inserted into the device, the bailiff pressed the play button.

"Janet, if you listen to me, I guarantee I can help you get a large sum of compensation."

"You know, I helped Evan Chandler get $2300 million ten years ago, back in 1993, and this time our goal is $5000 million."

"I know these big stars too well. They care about their reputation and definitely don't want things to escalate any further. If I can pressure Jackson once, I can do it twice."

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you, Attorney Larry. No matter what means you have to use, I must get this money."

"Don't worry, I will train you and your son on what to say. We also need to take Gavin to see Dr. Mathis."

"He is a psychiatrist and will provide us with a psychiatric evaluation report, which is an important basis for the lawsuit and compensation claim."

"Um, so should we give him another share of the money?"

"Of course, otherwise why would Mathis issue a report for you? Gavin is perfectly healthy, and what we need is a report proving that he has a problem."

After the recording finished playing, the explosive content left the entire room silent. Even Gadot was caught off guard, and Midouzi's itching disappeared.

After a brief pause to allow everyone time to process the information, Meserio spoke up, saying, "Your Honor, we guarantee that the contents of this recording are 100% true."

"You can have a professional organization do the testing; there is absolutely no possibility that it was artificially synthesized."

"Based on the facts, we have reason to believe that this is a conspiracy, a hunt for Michael Jackson."

"It was a conspiracy orchestrated by the Avizo family, Larry Feldman, and Mathis, who exploited public discontent and hatred towards wealthy celebrities in order to extort money from my client."

"This despicable, vulgar, shameless, filthy, and filthy behavior is not only illegal, but also challenges the bottom line of public order and morality."

After Meserio finished speaking, both the jury and the audience erupted in loud protests.

Among them were some emotional Michael Jordan fans; one black man in his thirties had already stood up and was pointing at the other side, cursing loudly.

Once he took the lead, several other fans did the same thing, instantly hurling all sorts of profanities at each of them and every woman in their eighteen generations, much more exciting than what Messerio had said.

"quiet!"

The judge pointed at the agitated fans: "Expel them!"

The bailiffs understood the fans' anger and, without resorting to any means, simply gestured for them to leave, and the fans tactfully made their way out.

"I love you, Michael!" a female fan shouted.

"Thank you everyone, I love you all too." Michael waved.

The commotion subsided, and the judge looked at Janet Avicoe: "Does the plaintiff have any explanation regarding this recording?"

Janet Avizo looked at the lawyer, Larry Feldman, her breath coming in short gasps. All she knew was how to swear.

The psychiatrist, Mathis, looked at Feldman with the same nervousness, feeling immense regret and wishing he could slap himself a few times.

Why get involved in this? You've ruined your career for a sum of money, and what's worse, you'll face a lawsuit.

Larry Feldman was as pale as a movie, his mind flashing back to the reasons why he had been wiretapped.

Seeing that the group remained silent, the judge asked again, "Does the plaintiff not intend to explain the recording?"

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Larry Feldman stammered, "Your Honor, I... I don't know the source of this recording, and I can't recall saying anything like that."

"But even if I did say it, it was just a private joke. I was just encouraging Janet and giving her confidence in the case."

"Everyone knows that Michael Jackson is a star with incredible wealth and connections. What do my clients have? They are just ordinary citizens."

"They are naturally worried that they will not be able to win the case at all, so I may say such things to encourage them, but saying them does not mean I will do them."

"Does everything have to be done as promised? Can jokes be taken seriously?"

Faced with the recording, Larry Feldman's defense appeared weak and feeble, bordering on absurd. Everyone could tell whether the recording was a joke or not.

After he finished speaking haltingly, most of the jury crossed their arms and gave him a cold stare.

At this point, the judge felt there was no need to continue. He looked at Michael and asked, "Does the defendant have anything else to say?"

Meserio answered loudly, "Yes, we also have important witnesses."

Eric suddenly moved, thinking, "You little brat, I'll get you!"

Gadot's eyes widened as she gripped his arm tightly, her face contorted in pain.

Jody Chandler then went to court, and he looked quite different from ten years ago.

Larry Feldman and Mathis didn't recognize him at first, but after a closer look, their expressions changed drastically, becoming even more nervous than when they heard the recording.

Stepping onto the witness stand, Jody Chandler addressed the jury and the public, saying, "My name is Jody Chandler. Some of you may not know it, some may have forgotten it, but I am the person involved in that case in 1993."

"In 1993, my father, Evan Chandler, sued Michael Jackson for sexual assault. With the help of lawyer Larry Feldman and Dr. Mathis, we reached a settlement with Jackson's team and ultimately received compensation."

"This is the information reported by the media, but the truth is not like that. Today I am here to expose the hidden darkness."

"Back then, Michael never actually assaulted me. It was my father, Evan Chandler, who wanted to extort money from him, so he instigated me to do it."

"I didn't agree at first because I considered Michael an idol and a person worthy of respect."

"But Evan kept leading me astray and took me to Larry Feldman, and the two of them brainwashed and instigated me together."

"Even so, I still didn't want to do it, so they took me to Mathis."

"I was locked up there for several days. Mathis was a psychiatrist. He hypnotized me while injecting me with psychotropic drugs. I was often in a daze and had no idea what I was doing."

"It was under these circumstances that the three of them brainwashed me and made me say those things."

"But later, after the out-of-court settlement, we withdrew the lawsuit because we got the money and achieved our goal."

"The prosecutor at the time, Tom Schneider, who assaulted Michael a few days ago, contacted us, hoping to continue the lawsuit, but my father refused."

"Ten years have passed, and I feel incredibly guilty. But at the time, I was controlled by drugs and had no choice. Later, the die was cast, and I was terrified by the overwhelming public pressure. I dared not do anything."

"Until this incident happened again, I knew I couldn't continue to indulge in this; I had to expose the truth."

"It's all fake, it's all a lie. Larry Feldman and Mathis are criminals. They have long since abandoned their professional ethics."

"Only Michael has been burdened with a bad reputation, which is something he shouldn't have to bear. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

After Jody Chandler finished speaking, the audience erupted in uproar again. No one had expected that something from ten years ago would be dug up and clarified.

The reason why some people believe that Michael is a pedophile ultimately comes down to the 1993 case.

If this situation is reversed, then all the negative marks on Mike will disappear completely.

Similarly, Jody Chandler's testimony was tantamount to sending Larry Feldman and Mathis directly to the guillotine.

They are completely beyond saving, and a thorough investigation awaits them.

"quiet!"

The judge looked at Larry Feldman: "Do you have anything to say about Jody Chandler's testimony?"

The latter opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

Just as the judge was about to adjourn the court, Meserio spoke up again: "Your Honor, we have another piece of video evidence."

The video content is naturally about Martin Basher's candid conversation.

"I want to destroy him. Even if Michael Jackson never did anything to molest children, I can use editing and camera work to make him look like that. The public is the easiest to fool."

"Martin, did Sony hire you to do this?"

"Haha, guess what? Maybe this will only be revealed after some people have passed away."

The final frame of the image focuses on Martin Basher's enigmatic and amusing smile.

Meserio stated, "Your Honor, based on this video, we have reason to suspect that the Avizo family colluded with Martin Basher to frame Jackson."

"Moreover, all of this is likely related to Sony Music, so we request that Martin Barshere and Sony Music be summoned for questioning."

The significance of this video is no longer just about the few people on the other side, but about dragging Sony Music into it and making sure that it is swallowed up by the storm of public opinion.

The judge's expression turned grave as he suddenly realized that this child molestation case was no longer just about sexual harassment; it involved huge economic interests and conspiracies.

This is a very hot potato, and the Santa Barbara City Court may not be able to handle it.

After surveying the room and confirming that neither party intended to continue, the judge stood up and announced: "Given the complexity of the case, the Santa Barbara City Court will hold a thorough discussion with the jury to determine the date for the next hearing, at which time both parties will be notified."

After the court session ended, Eric pulled out his finger, making a crisp popping sound.

Gal Gadot blushed and punched him in the back, earning him a kiss in return.

They approached Mike and hugged.

"Michael, the trial looks like it's going well. As long as the jury isn't idiots, we're guaranteed to win."

"Eric, thanks to you."

"As things stand," Messerio said, "Janet Avicio has absolutely no chance of winning, not even one percent."

"Based on my experience, I'm afraid they will choose to withdraw the lawsuit on their own initiative."

Eric sneered, "Withdrawing the lawsuit won't spare them, but they're just small fry. The key is Sony Music."

"Michael, you've been in the spotlight for the past month. Once the news of the trial gets out, it's sure to cause a media frenzy."

"I'm ready; it's time for a tough battle with Sony."

(End of this chapter)