Lawyer at Media Awards Lunch: Beware the Media
At today’s annual Stephen Philbin Awards Luncheon, which recognizes excellence in legal reporting, the L.a. lawyer who got Michael Jackson off on child-molestation charges said he saw the media as his “enemy” in that case. Thomas Mesereau Jr., who sought a gag order in the Jackson trial and fought to keep cameras out of the courtroom, said he was merely protecting the entertainer from the potential for cheap, abusive, salacious, tabloid reporting. “everybody was looking to profit off the carcass of Michael Jackson,” Mesereau said. then he added this advice for the lawyers in the room: “you must win your case with the 12 people [of the jury]. The media counts, but after the verdict, they’re gone.”
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