popular thinking

DON'T BLAME ME FOR THE HEADLINE

I interviewed Thomas Mesereau over the holiday weekend, seeing as he is in town today to talk to Harvard Law students about his defense of Michael Jackson, and on the TV tonight as one of Barbara Walters' most fascinating people of the year. It's a positive piece. Mesereau continues to stick up for Jackson, and I let him, trying not to be one of those tabloid people he despises. Yesterday, though, I asked one of my editors to place odds on whether the words Wacko and/or Jacko would end up on the headline. Which naturally means...

Victorious lawyer still defending Wacko Jacko (Boston Herald)
Michael Jackson may be one of the most intriguing people in pop culture, but today, it’s his attorney who has the spotlight.
Thomas A. Mesereau Jr. appears in Cambridge this afternoon to tell Harvard Law School students about his experience defending the “King of Pop” on charges of child molestation and conspiracy in June. Tonight at 10, Barbara Walters interviews Mesereau as one of her “10 Most Fascinating People of 2005,” which airs on WCVB-TV (Ch. 5).
“I was extremely honored and just really surprised,” Mesereau said about making Walters’ list.
The 55-year-old criminal defense attorney spends most of his time setting the record straight about his most famous client.
“He is one of the most compassionate and kindhearted people I’ve ever met,” Mesereau said of Jackson. “And he is extremely honest about his life.”
Mesereau alleged that Court TV and many of the legal pundits who took to the airwaves hoped to profit from Jackson’s plight.
“Ironically, probably the most accurate reporting of all was the E! channel, despite the theatrical issues raised by the acting, which was somewhat ridiculous,” he said.
That includes the actor who portrayed Mesereau in E!’s nightly re-enactments of the Jackson trial. “What I saw of it was amusing. Particularly his wig,” Mesereau said.
On the subject of cameras in the courtroom, he supported them while serving as Robert Blake’s attorney during Blake’s preliminary hearings on murder charges, and opposed them for the Jackson case.
“In the Jackson case, I was against cameras in the courtroom because I sensed there was an effort to make this case a real circus,” Mesereau said. “Since then I have changed my opinion. I wouldn’t change it because we won. I think Michael Jackson’s reputation would’ve been helped if the public was able to see how bad these witnesses were for the prosecution.”

Limited seats are available for “The Trial of Michael Jackson,” with Thomas Mesereau and MSNBC’s Dan Abrams, at 5 p.m. today at Harvard Law School’s Ames Courtroom. E-mail saturday@law.harvard.edu or call 617-496-2054 to reserve a seat.