Justice for MJ

The Twitter hashtag that the MJ fans have been using (and that we've all been using on the fan boards for the past two years now) is "justice4mj," so it was difficult for me to remember to type it as "Justice for MJ."  It's just become such a habit to type "justice4mj."

Anyway - I got an alert via Twitter on Monday that the verdict was going to be read at 4:00 p.m. EST.  It was a rare "I stayed late at work" day (thought not that late), so it was nearly 4:00 p.m. when I got this, and we were still about four blocks from my house.  As soon as I got off the trolley, I sprinted home and found CNN on my tv.  I didn't bother to hang up my bag or coat, throwing them on the couch beside me (although I have coat hooks for my bags and coat immediately by my front door).

I had planned on recording the trial and skimming it every night, but when they showed Michael's dead body on the first day, and I sat on my couch sobbing for ... I don't even know how long... I decided this was probably not a good idea.  So I just read recaps every day.

I was so anxious waiting for the verdict.  I've done enough time with two different DA's offices that I was sure that I knew what a less-than-ten-hour deliberation period (given the length of trial) AND a no-questions-from-the-jury verdict meant.  But I wasn't going to count anything as a sure bet until the words.  Because I've also seen some crazy-ass juries come back and say some crazy-ass things during the time when the attorneys could question them about their thoughts, why they voted the way they did, etc.

As soon as the clerk read the verdict, I start crying.  I was sad that I wasn't on the street outside of the courthouse with the other fans, who are people who would have understood the conflicting emotions - reliving the loss, feeling elated that Murrary is now a convicted felon, but still left wondering if justice will really ever be served.  (Also, is it sad that when we heard a female yell when the clerk read the verdict, I was POSITIVE it was LaToya... and I later learnt that I was right?)

The most Murray can serve is four years, but even if he's sentenced to that, he most likely won't serve anything close to that because of the prison overcrowding situation.  (Think Lindsey Lohan being sentenced to 30 days and serving 4 hours.)  Although he's convicted of a felony, it's one of the "lesser" ones, so he could serve it out on house arrest or get it changed to probation.  His medical license will be revoked, but only in California.  While the DA's office has stated they hope the states in which he's licensed to practice medicine will look into this situation, one of those states is Arizona, and a year after they revoke, he would eligible to reapply to practice.

And, at the end of the day... obviously none of this brings Michael back.  The world is left arguing about whether he was a drug addict, whether his concert would have been phenomenal or a mess, and wondering whether "This Is It" really would have been it (I was hoping not.  I was hoping it was the beginning of a spectacular comeback, although now that he was raising a family...).

Michael, I'm going to quote one of your sister's songs here: I miss you much.