Rodney Scott Melville is a presiding judge in Santa Barbara County's superior court. He was the judge in Michael Jackson's 2005 child molestion trial, in which Jackson was acquitted.
Melville was born in 1941 and studied at San Diego State University and Hastings College of the Law, University of California. [1]
Melville, now living in Sacramento, California, became an attorney for the firm Melville & Iwasko and became a state certified specialist in family law. Melville served as a deputy district attorney in the San Bernardino County district attorney's office for two years. [1]
In 1987, Melville was appointed to the municipal court bench. After three years he was promoted to the superior court. [1]
Melville retired as a judge for the superior court in 2007, having served 17 years. [2]
In 2005, Michael Jackson was accused of child molestation by a 13-year-old boy. The case went to court and Melville was appointed the presiding judge. Prior to the start of the trial, Melville banned cameras from the courtroom, put a gag order on both sides and oversaw a three-day jury selection procedure. [1]
People v. Jackson was a 2005 criminal trial held in Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria, California. The American pop singer Michael Jackson was charged with molesting Gavin Arvizo, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged abuse, at his Neverland Ranch estate in Los Olivos, California.
Thomas William Sneddon Jr. was the district attorney of Santa Barbara County, California. He had more than two decades of experience as a District Attorney, and more than three decades of experience as a prosecutor. He is best known for leading two investigations of Michael Jackson on child sexual abuse allegations in 1993 and 2005. His most famous case was when he was prosecuting child molestation charges against entertainer Michael Jackson in the trial People v. Jackson in 2005, at the end of which Jackson was acquitted.
Thomas Arthur Mesereau Jr. is an American attorney best known for successfully defending Michael Jackson in his 2005 child molestation trial, as well as representing many other celebrities.
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Delbert Gee was an Alameda County Superior Court Judge from 2002 until his retirement in 2022, presiding over both civil and criminal cases. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, he presided over two civil jury trials conducted entirely by video.
California Southern Law School (CSLS) was a private part-time evening law school in Riverside, California. It admitted its last entering class in Fall 2016 and closed after the Spring 2020 semester. It is registered with the California State Bar Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE), but is not accredited by the CBE or approved by the American Bar Association. As a registered law school, CSLS graduates may take the California Bar Examination and upon passing the Bar, they are authorized to practice law in California.
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Jeremy Don Fogel is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Fogel was appointed by President Bill Clinton. He was a judge for the municipal court and superior court of Santa Clara County, California from 1981 to 1998. He served as Director of the Federal Judicial Center from 2011 to 2018.
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The Judiciary of California or the Judicial Branch of California is defined under the California Constitution as holding the judicial power of the state of California which is vested in the Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeal and the Superior Courts. The judiciary has a hierarchical structure with the California Supreme Court at the top, California Courts of Appeal as the primary appellate courts, and the California Superior Courts as the primary trial courts.
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) kept records on the American singer Michael Jackson, which were released under the Freedom of Information Act posthumously on December 22, 2009. In response to perceived threats against Jackson and allegations of child sexual assault made against him, the FBI made several investigations into Jackson, none of which led to charges.