Re: [Discussion] Wade Robson files claim of sexual abuse against MJ-Estate
Michael never avoided the trial in 1993, reasons being.
1. Evan Chandler filed a civil lawsuit against Michael in the first few weeks of the criminal investigation.
2. There was "NO" criminal trial for Michael to avoid as the settlement was for a civil trial
3. If Michael had gone ahead with any civil trial, not only would he have lost his rights to plead 5th Amendment in any criminal trial, the prosecution would know what Michael's legal teams defense strategy.
This civil lawsuit left Michael and his legal team in a very difficult position. The reason for the settlement was so Michael could focus on the the criminal investigation which potentially involved Michael facing jail. The civil lawsuit just involved Michael losing money (but sadly it did end ruining his reputation). And anyone who was actually around in 1994 when this settlement was made, will remember that before the media "rewrote history" this out court settlement was seen as good an positive move for Michael buy the media. They only turned against Michael with this settlement when he married Lisa Marie Presley, then started twisting what happened saying it was a "pay off", and not separating the civil lawsuit from the criminal investigation.
Also it's forgotten the amount of pressure Michael was under, he was under investigation not just by Tom Sneddon's SBPD, but also by the LAPD. Plus he had potential lawsuits from promoters of concerts for he had to cancel from the 2nd leg of the Dangerous Tour due to this Chandler abuse lie, blackmail and extortion.
4. No one knows exactly who made the approach to settle out of court, due to USA legal rules. It's obvious Michael and his legal team (lawyer Burt Fields, who resigned) didn't want to face the civil lawsuit due to the loss of rights Michael would face in any criminal trial. And Michael's legal team did try to get the civil lawsuit delayed for a few years without success. But that doesn't mean Michael and his legal team approached the Chandler's and offered them an out of court settlement, as it could easily have been the other way around. As it's a known fact that the deeper the criminal investigation got, the more worried the Chandler's were of testifying in a criminal trial.
Another fact that is often over looked, is the fact that Michael's lead lawyer in this settlement Johnnie Cochran was friends with the Chandler's civil lawsuit lawyer Larry Feldman. That is something I find troubling, a win win for both lawyers but not for Michael!
Apart from the fact that it is legally acknowledge Michael made an out of court settlement to stop a civil trial. The only other thing allowed to legally be acknowledged about this settlement, is that Michael was allowed to say in public is was innocent of claims of child abuse against Jordan Chandler. And by USA law neither side was allowed to state the facts of the civil settlement, if they did then one side could sue the other, and this made it more difficult for Michael to fully defend himself for reasons he paid a settlement in the media. But once again he was allowed to state the fact he was innocent of the claim made against him of child abuse.
5. After this out of civil court settlement made by Michael and his legal team, civil court cases where no longer allowed to be made until after a criminal trial etc by California law.
6. After the out of court civil settlement was made. Michael was still under police investigation would could result in a criminal trial and jail. The Chandler's by their own doing decided to no longer co-operate with the police and criminal investigation. But the police could force Jordan Chandler to appear as a witness in any criminal trail. Also Michael was never charged by the police for the 1993 child abuse allegations made by Jordan Chandler.
Michael was cleared by a Grand Jury around October 1994 after a 3 month hearing of evidence to which Jordan Chandler could have been forced to have appear at if the police had strong evidence against Michael of which they had none.
7. It's obvious from the actions of the Chandler's from the start of the criminal investigation to the civil lawsuit settlement in January 1994 (when the police hadn't even finished their criminal investigation) that the Chandler's were only ever interested in money. Michael never avoided anything, he was pushed in to a corner by a very cleaver extortion plan, which the Chandler's sadly succeeded at getting $Millions from Michael and tarnishing his good name, just as that telephone recording of Evan Chandler states.
It's easy in retrospect to say Michael should have fought the civil trial, as that's what we all think now and even Michael said he regretted making the civil settlement. But it's obvious he was under intense pressure from the separate criminal investigation, he didn't have a good manager on Sandy Gallin (can't remember how to spell his surname), and it doesn't look like he got the best legal advice. But he was really put in a hard place having the potential loss of his civil rights and defense strategy being exposed to the prosecution in any criminal trial. And I'm sure that is the reason his legal team advised or told him to settle the civil lawsuit.
