How Sneddon Withheld Chandler’s Description, by kristinpan

I was recently contacted by blogger Kristinpan who informed me of making a certain discovery in the research of Sneddon’s tricks against Michael Jackson. Below you will find my introduction to this subject and a short summary of Kristinpan’s findings about Sneddon’s manipulation with the evidence codes. 

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If you read Sneddon’s declaration of May 26, 2005 about Jordan Chandler’s [incorrect] description of MJ’s private parts and photos made during the strip search you will be surprised not only by Sneddon’s vague and incoherent dance around the subject, but also by his idea to enter this evidence to rebut “the opinion evidence offered by witnesses for Defendant to the effect that he is of a “shy” and “modest” nature and so would not have exposed his naked body in the presence of young boys”.

By then the prosecution had already introduced a lot of hearsay from third parties in an effort to prove the alleged prior bad acts on the defendant’s part (under evidence code 1108 allowed by the judge), but this supposedly direct evidence was to be broken by them at the very end of the trial and was meant to prove a relatively minor thing – that Michael Jackson was “not shy and modest” – and was supposed to be introduced as character evidence and under a different evidence code (1101).

But why? Wasn’t it ridiculous to use so “damning” an evidence to prove so minor and obviously untrue thing instead of using it as the main weapon in the course of the trial when they were discussing the so-called “prior bad acts”?

This peculiarity in the prosecution strategy stunned many of us, and so strange a twist in their thinking remained an enigma – until kirstinpan looked into the difference between the two evidence codes and found the reason why.

Putting it in plain language she found that it was absolutely no chance occurrence that Sneddon 1) manipulated with the codes and 2) wanted to enter the description and photos at the very end of the trial at the rebuttal stage when the defense already rested their case.

The wrong code was no mistake on the prosecutors’ part and was used intentionally – to keep the defense away from comparing the description and the photos themselves and finding out that they were in mismatch. Evidence code 1108 compels the disclosure of all evidence to the defense and in due time too, while code 1101 allows to keep it away from the other side as it is supposed to be a surprise and used for the rebuttal of something said during the main part of the trial (“the case-in-chief”).

Code 1101 didn’t apply here at all as there was nothing to rebut – Michael was indeed shy and modest and never exposed himself to anyone, but none of the witnesses spoke about it during the trial, so there was no one whose opinion was to be challenged by this Sneddon’s “evidence”.

However the rebuttal was merely a pretext. The real reason was Sneddon’s desire to hide the mismatch from the defense and never give them a chance to make the comparison themselves.

Let me also add that the discovery of Sneddon’s code manipulations impresses most if you place it in the context of Sneddon always knowing that he could not introduce that evidence at all (point 8 of this post explains why not).

Indeed, Sneddon only said he wanted to enter that evidence but there was absolutely no way to introduce the description\photos in Jordan Chandler’s absence. It would have broken the defendant’s constitutional right – his right to face the witness and ask him questions (the confrontation right is ensured by the Sixth Amendment). And this was actually the reason why the judge ruled against Sneddon’s motion. This outcome was obvious, well-expected and unavoidable, and Sneddon was of course perfectly aware that it couldn’t be any different.

And since Sneddon knew that his motion would go nowhere all his declarations were a mere publicity stunt. However in a combination with the evidence code games it was something even worse than that – Sneddon not only wanted to cheat, but he also made sure that no one found out that he was cheating.  Not only did he want to shock the media and public with his hollow declarations of the alleged “match”, but he also manipulated with the evidence codes not to give the defense a chance to check up on his declarations.

It was a publicity stunt meant to be never known to be a lie.

If Sneddon had tried to enter the description and the photos under code 1108 the judge wouldn’t have allowed them anyway (due to the confrontation right), but in this case a big complication would have arisen for the prosecution – the defense could have had access to that evidence and could have had an expert’s opinion about it, and could have easily challenged Sneddon’s lies in the media. Thomas Mesereau would have had first-hand knowledge that there was no match and the expert could have corroborated his words too.

But this was absolutely not to Sneddon’s liking. He wanted to tell a lie and get away with it too. So showing that “evidence” to the defense was out of the question for him, and this is why he manipulated with those codes. Evidence code 1101 allowed him to only talk about it and never show it to the other side.

All of it is explained in kristinpan’s post: https://truthrunsmarathons.wordpress.com/2015/10/03/how-sneddon-withheld-chandlers-description/

I invite everyone to read it as it adds a lot to our understanding of the situation.

The truth indeed runs marathons.

UPDATE: I now withdraw my invitation to read Kristinpan’s post as the story had an interesting development  – the post simply disappeared from her blog. The investigation of what happened and proof that the overall conclusions made in my introduction to it are still correct will be provided in my next post. In the meantime Kristinpan will hopefully reply.

The truth indeed runs marathons and sometimes it takes a very winding road.