We all were hoping for another outcome but on Friday (August 18), a three-judge panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal found that the lawsuits of Wade Robson and James Safechuck should not have been dismissed by a lower court, and that the men can validly claim that the two Jackson-owned corporations that were named as defendants in the cases had a responsibility to protect them.
It’s the second time the lawsuits – brought by Robson in 2013 and Safechuck the following year – have been brought back after dismissal.
The court said “a corporation that facilitates the sexual abuse of children by one of its employees is not excused from an affirmative duty to protect those children merely because it is solely owned by the perpetrator of the abuse.”
They added that “it would be perverse to find no duty based on the corporate defendant having only one shareholder. And so we reverse the judgments entered for the corporations.”
Jonathan Steinsapir, attorney for the Jackson estate, said they were “disappointed”. “Two distinguished trial judges repeatedly dismissed these cases on numerous occasions over the last decade because the law required it,”
“We remain fully confident that Michael is innocent of these allegations, which are contrary to all credible evidence and independent corroboration, and which were only first made years after Michael‘s death by men motivated solely by money.”
Vince Finaldi, an attorney for Robson and Safechuck, said in an email that they were “pleased but not surprised” that the court overturned the previous judge’s “incorrect rulings in these cases, which were against California law and would have set a dangerous precedent that endangered children throughout state and country. We eagerly look forward to a trial on the merits.”
The judges did not rule on the truth of the allegations themselves. That will be the subject of a forthcoming jury trial in Los Angeles. “We trust that the truth will ultimately prevail with Michael‘s vindication yet again,” Steinsapir said Friday.
One who will be happy about this is Dan Reed who has now more material to film his second movie based on pure lies and brand it as a “documentary”.
The Michael Jackson Fan Community is up for a bumpy ride but as always, we will all come together, support each other, help the estate were we can, voice the truth in any manners possible because we know that Michael is innocent. We know those two men are liars. We know the truth. We know the facts.
I know this is not what we were hoping for from the court and if you are struggling with the court case and this event, make sure you reach out to your MJ family and friends.
Such lawsuits open the door to free riders and fraudsters who can hold any company liable if abuse is alleged. Such judges are incompetent and not conducive to economics or victims, since only monetary compensation is awarded here and not justice. Awarding money to someone who has testified under oath in a criminal proceeding is a disgrace to California. The issue of abuse here becomes blackmail which is exploited to become a famous role model for the general public.
Agreed Wade and James case should get thrown out.
The law can be tricky and often the wording can make it seem flexible, which is why the current appeal was allowed. But these men will come out as the liars and opportunists that they are and they will not win. They can’t harm Michael Jackson. If by chance they win due to a hung jury, they should walk away penniless.
I have no words for how this just won’t go away. It’s disgusting that they were even allowed this many appeals(when is enough, enough?) and now it’s actuslly going to trial. The man is long gone, can’t defend himself. What’s more, the low burden of proof. How can that even be a thing? It scares me. Apparently a jury only needs to be convinced of the allegations for 50% for them to be able to rule guilty. How is that fair? When it’s about something that is so easy to accuse someone of, let alone a dead person, the burden of proof should be high.
I genuinely hope the jury won’t be biased and I hope the estate can present everything they got on these two, cause no sane person can rule in their favor after they learn everything there is to learn about them. Estate can still go to supreme court and they might look at it and throw it out, but I’m not getting my hopes up on that.
His music was temporarily banned after LN came out, because people turn into mindless drones obviously, I dread to think what could happen if they rule in favor of W&J. They have been trying to wipe him off the map completely for a long time now. When are these two pieces of human waste finally getting what they truly deserve? What a world.