A Brief Summary of Michael Jackson’s Career:

Michael Jackson, born on August 28, 1958, was an American recording artist, singer, dancer, philanthropist and pop-icon. Often referred to as the King of Pop, Michael Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time; Jackson’s contribution to music and dance, along with a highly-publicized personal life, transformed the singer into a global figure in popular culture for over four decades.

Michael Jackson became a dominant figure in the music scene throughout the 1980s when the pop icon released legendary videos for his songs, including “Beat It”, “Thriller”, and “Billie Jean.” These videos were ultimately credited for transforming the medium into a tangible art form and a promotional tool; the popularity of these hit videos helped bring music television to fame. In addition to his videos, Jackon’s music albums are among the most successful efforts in music history; Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller is the best-selling album of all time. In total, Michael Jackson has won 13 Grammy Awards, 26 American Music Awards, held 13 number-one singles in the United States and has sold an estimated 750 million records worldwide.

Although Jackson transformed music, aspects of the pop icon’s personal life, including his egregious appearance change his personal relationships and general behavior generated controversy. In 1993, Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse—this case was settled out of court and no formal charges were filed—and in 2005 the pop icon was tried and acquitted of further sexual abuse allegations and various other charges after the jury ruled the musician not guilty on all counts.

The Death of an Icon: Details regarding the Death of Michael Jackson:

On June 25, 2009 Michael Jackson died in his bed at his mansion located at 100 North Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills district of Los Angeles. When Jackson’s body was first discovered, attempts at resurrection were applied by Conrad Murray, Jackson’s personal physician. These efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful, as Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics found Jackson’s body unresponsive and not breathing at roughly 12:22 local time. Reseruection efforts continued en route to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center; Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 local time.

It was initially reported that Michael Jackson died from a sudden cardiac death, which according to the American College of Cardiology, is labeled as, “the sudden cessation of cardiac activity so that the victim becomes unresponsive, with no normal breathing and no signs of circulation.” The cause of Jackson’s cardiac arrest was reported as a combination of the potent drugs lorazepam, midazolam and propofol. The death, which has been formally ruled as a homicide, is currently being investigated; law enforcement officials are currently investigating Jackson’s physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, regarding his recommendations that Jackson combine these drugs to help him deal with stress and sleep.

Jessica Dubroff

Jessica Dubroff was a 7-year-old media sensation who gained attention when she began taking flying lessons at the age of six. After receiving in excess of 66 hours of flight training, her father Lloyd and flight instructor Joe Reid decided to make an attempt to have Jessica Dubroff become the youngest pilot to ever complete a flight from coast to coast. On the last leg of the flight in Appril of 1996, the plane crashed while being piloted by Reid, killing him, Jessica Dubroff and her father Lloyd.

In the wake of the crash, an investigation into its cause was conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board. The completed report, issued in 1997, concluded that responsibility for the crash lay with Reid, who had taken off under unsafe weather conditions in a plane that was 96 pounds heavier than permitted. As a response to the events, Congress passed legislation designed to prevent similar attempts by making it illegal for a pilot younger than 16 years of age to be in direct control of a flight in all attempts to set a record.

In 1997, civil litigation relating to insurance commenced in San Mateo. The two parties in the dispute were the stepmother of Jessica Dubroff, Lisa Blair Hathaway, and Melinda Anne Hurst Dubroff, who had been married to Lloyd Dubroff at the time of the plane crash. After the crash, it was discovered that Lloyd Dubroff had purchased four separate life insurance policies, each valued at $75,000 a piece. Two apiece were in the names of Hathaway and Dubroff.

The first to file suit was Melinda Dubroff, who argued that she was entitled to not just the two policies in her name, but for one of the two policies in Lisa Hathaway's name. She argued she was entitled to half of the payments made on life insurance purchased for Hathaway under communal property laws. Dubroff also sued for half of $150,000 worth of gifts and property Lloyd Dubroff gave to Hathaway after their divorce.

Lisa Hathaway filed a countersuit seeking a minimum of $3 million from the estate of Lloyd Dubroff, citing child care expenses for another two children she had from her former husband. She also claimed that Dubroff had promised to provide for her fiscally for the rest of her life. The case was heard in December of 1997.

Melinda Dubroff's attorneys were the first to present their case and did so over the course of three days. Once they had completed, the attorneys representing Lisa Hathaway filed a motion requesting a dismissal of the case, which was granted by the judge. As a result, Lisa Hathaway was granted the right to receive all $1.5 million of the life insurance proceeds due to her. Dubroff's claim regarding her right to repayment of gifts and property given by Lloyd Dubroff to Hathaway following their divorce was also dismissed.

Vincent Kaminski

Vincent Kaminski served for years as the head of risk and research at Enron, a Houston energy company. During his time in this capacity, his job was to perform mathematical analyses quantifying the potential risks and benefits of various business transactions. In this capacity, Vincent Kaminski became concerned in 1999 by a plan proposed to create a partnership with a company run by Enron’s Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow which would be backed by Enron stock.

In response to his analysis, Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling removed Vincent Kaminski from his work performing risk assessment. In making this decision, Skilling cited complaints that the work performed by Vincent Kaminski and his employees impeded rather than aided the firm in completing transactions. Vincent Kaminski and his employees subsequently were moved to the trading division of the company.

In 2001, Vincent Kaminski’s team was tasked with evaluating a type of financial transaction the company had created under Fastow’s supervision, called “the Raptor,” which in essence would commit the company to paying back certain bank loans if their credit ratings was downgraded, leading to a decrease in stock value. Vincent Kaminski concluded that this proposed transaction committed Enron to excessive risk and reported his findings to the Chief Risk Officer.

In an October 2001 meeting, Vincent Kaminski reiterated his concerns and voiced his concern that Fastow was acting in an unethical fashion. He remained at the company, refusing to sign documents authorizing these risky transactions, until he left the company in 2002.

While Enron ignored the warnings of Vincent Kaminski, in March of 2001 “Fortune” magazine published article stating that Enron’s earnings could not be explained, since the company’s sources of revenue were unknown. A series of increasingly public business difficulties led the price of the stock to decline significantly throughout the year, culminating in bankruptcy proceedings. One of the first Enron executives to be arrested and tried for criminal offenses was Andrew Fastow, who agreed to cooperate in exchange for a plea bargain limiting him to a 10 year prison sentence.

Fastow agreed to testify at the 2006 trial of executives Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay. Vincent Kaminski also appeared as a witness at this trial, explaining the actions he had taken to warn the company of the risks being taken. During cross-examination by Lay’s attorney, Vincent Kaminski conceded that he was a trained economist rather than an accountant but said that he felt he had taken sufficient steps to warn the company of the dangers of its transactions. He also conceded that he had not been fired in retaliation.

The trial of Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay resulted in convictions against both on counts of securities and wire fraud. Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years and 4 months in prison, while Kenneth Lay passed away before he could be sentenced. Vincent Kaminski is currently a faculty member at Houston’s Rice University.

Bela Lugosi was a Hungarian-born actor most associated with his role as Count Dracula in the 1931 film "Dracula." Ten years after his death in 1956, the heirs of Bela Lugosi filed a lawsuit against Universal Pictures, the company which made "Dracula." The lawsuit alleged that Universal was profiting from and exploiting the image and likeness of Bela Lugosi for profits which should have been inherited and shared with theirs. The resolution of the lawsuit hinged upon the question of whether or not the contracts which Bela Lugosi had signed with Universal Pictures granted the corporation the right to use his likeness and portrayal of Dracula for profit without the involvement of his heirs.

The lawsuit did not receive a hearing and resolution until 1979. At this time, the lawsuit had developed into a request for an injunction against Universal Pictures to force the company to cease manufacturing 70 different product which made use of imagery of Bela Lugosi as Dracula. The lawsuit also called on the court to order Universal Pictures to share the profits from sales of such merchandise with the heirs of Bela Lugosi. Their lawsuit argued that such imagery constituted inheritable property. In response, Universal Pictures alleged in their response that barring them from manufacturing products bearing the likeness of Bela Lugosi as Dracula would constitute a violation of the First Amendment right to free expression.

The judge hearing the case ruled in favor of the heirs of Bela Lugosi, granting them $70,000 as well as the injunction ordering Universal to desist from further manufacture of products bearing the actor's likeness. Universal petitioned this decision, which was reversed by the Second Appellate District court. In its ruling, the appeals court declared that the right to exploit a name or likeness is not inheritable. Furthermore, the court ruled that for Bela Lugosi or any other person with an exploitable name or likeness to do so, they must take such steps to profit during their lifetime. The heirs of Bela Lugosi appealed this decision to the California Supreme Court, which upheld the ruling and reasoning of the appellate court.

A similar case that was heard in 1979 concerned a biographical drama made about the silent film actor Rudolph Valentino. The actor's nephew and legal heir filed suit against the production company on the same grounds as the heirs of Bela Lugosi. This case too ended in a ruling against the plaintiff, since the court found that since Valentino had not exploited his likeness in such a fashion while alive, such a right could not be inherited by his heirs.

In response to this ruling, in 1988 the California legislature passed the Celebrities Rights Act. This act stated that the right to exploit a name and likeness for profit was inheritable and could be claimed by the heirs of the person in question for up to 70 years after their death. To date, twelve other states have passed similar legislation.

Harry Gale Nye Jr. was an American businessman who is primarily remembered for his achievements as a champion yachter. In the legal field, Harry Gale Nye Jr. is primarily remembered as president of the Nye Tool & Machine Works company established by his father. This company was the subject of an important 1923 Supreme Court case, Crown Die & Tool Co. v. Nye Tool & Machine Works. This trial took place before Harry Gale Nye Jr. assumed control of the company.

The case concerned a dispute over the manufacture of a machine which made screw-thread cutting devices. The basis of the lawsuit occurred when Nye Tool alleged that its patent was being infringed upon by Crown Die & Tool Co. and sought to receive both an infringement against Crown Die and damages for lost revenue. In considering the case, the main issue to be resolved by the Supreme Court concerned whether a suit over patent infringement could not be separated from the right to exclude specific parties from manufacture within the patent.

This reasoning meant that the Supreme Court was not concerned with the merits of the case filed by the Nye Tool company owned by the father of Harry Gale Nye Jr. in particular. Rather, the Supreme Court was interested in determining whether an infringement lawsuit could be brought forth by anyone other than an exclusive licensee of a patent without the involvement of the patent owner. The Supreme Court ruled that this was not possible, a verdict which reversed the appeal filed by the Nye Tool company.

As a result, Crown Die & Tool Co. v. Nye Tool & Machine Works became an important case in the history of patent infringement litigation. As a result, the rights of a patent owner to exclude specific manufacturers from making use of their work were affirmed. These issues were resolved by the time that Harry Gale Nye Jr. assumed control of the company.

Under the leadership of Harry Gale Nye Jr., the Nye Tool & Machine Works company experienced financial difficulties due to the Great Depression. However, the company managed to survive. Concurrent with its primary functions, Harry Gale Nye Jr. became interested in manufacturing sails. The company expanded in this direction and continued its activities throughout World War II until canvas became unavailable. This alternate company was sold in the late 1950s. This company subsequently transitioned in manufacturing fashion apparel.

Nye Tool & Machine Works was sold by Harry Gale Nye Jr. to an Indiana company in 1964. However, Harry Gale Nye Jr. remained best known for his many victories as a yachter. Later in his career, he began developing hydrofoil vessels. Harry Gale Nye Jr. passed away in 1987. After his death, the International Star Class Yachting Association named an award in his memory, which is conferred upon those the organization feels have contributed significantly to the development of the sport of yachting. 

Charice

Charice is a pop singer from the Philippines. In the legal field, she is primarily associated the death of her father, Ricky Pempengco, which occurred on October 31, 2011.

During initial reports of the death of the father of Charice, it was reported that he had been stabbed by a man with an ice pick outside of a convenience store from which he had just purchased cigarettes. The person with the ice pick then fled the scene of the crime. An investigation subsequently pointed to Angel Capilli Jr. as the perpetrator of the murder.

After several days, Angel Capilli Jr. turned himself in to the mayor of Gen. Trias, where the killing took place. Under initial questioning by the authorities, Angel Capilli Jr. claimed that the murder of the father of Charice had its roots in a confrontation that had occurred earlier in the evening. At that time, Angel Capilli Jr. stated that he had met the father of Charice prior to the murder and gotten involved in an altercation that resulted in him being punched in the face. Angel Capilli Jr. claimed that at the time, rather than punching back, he ran away and reported the incident to the authorities.

Angel Capilli Jr. went on to say that later in the evening, when he had encountered the father of Charice again, he had no intention of retaliating for the events that occurred earlier in the evening. Instead, Angel Capilli Jr. claimed that when he saw the father of Charice, he began retreating to avoid further conflict. Angel Capilli Jr. stated that he was still being pursued by the father of Charice, so he had no choice but to defend himself. In some statements, he said that he had grabbed a screwdriver and used it to stab the father of Charice. In other statements, he said that the ice pick which he had used to kill the father of Charice was something he regularly carried on his person when visiting the city. He also claimed that in retreating from the scene of the crime, he had lost the ice pick.

After turning himself in for the murder of the father of Charice, Angel Capilli Jr. requested that the charges against him be lowered from murder (meaning he had been the aggressor) to homicide (meaning that the death had occurred as a result of self-defense). The police filed a preliminary charge of murder at the time of his surrender and then conducted a ten-day investigation to determine whether the request was reasonable.

After questioning witnesses to the murder of the father of Charice, the Filipino police investigating the matter concluded that Angel Capilli Jr. had not acted in self-defense and therefore was liable for murder. As of October 2012, the case has not reached a publicly disclosed resolution or verdict. Charice rejected all statements made by Angel Capilli Jr. seeking forgiveness.

Chris Hatcher

Chris Hatcher was a psychologist who became famous as an expert in forensic psychology, specializing the field known as "profile evidence." He specialized in analyzing behavioral patterns to help predict and establish criminal motivations. Chris Hatcher was involved in many high-profile cases prior to his death in 1999.

One prominent case in which Chris Hatcher was involved concerned the trial of convicted murderer Gregory Scott Smith. In March of 1990, Gregory Scott Smith kidnapped an eight-year-old boy, who he raped and murdered. He then disposed of the body by burning it. Following a police investigation, he was arrested in October of that year and pled guilty to all charges filed against him. During the subsequent trial, he was found guilty of all charges.

In December of 1991, Chris Hatcher appeared to testify during the sentencing phase of the trial on behalf of the prosecution. Appearing in the capacity of an expert on cases involving child abduction, Chris Hatcher testified to the similarities he had determined between Smith's actions and those in other child murders which he had studied. After presenting a general overview of the hallmarks common to these types of homicides, Chris Hatcher identified similarities in Smith's actions.  Under cross-examination, Chris Hatcher conceded that he was only testifying in general terms about the

psychology of child killers rather than about Smith in particular.

Smith was subsequently found guilty of the charges against him and appealed the sentence, whose validity was ultimately decided in the Supreme Court of California in 2005. In his appeal, Smith argued that the witness testimony provided by Chris Hatcher was inadmissable on several grounds. Smith questioned the legality of allowing an expert to testify about possible mental illness evident in the conduct of the defendant as an aggravating circumstance in commission of the crime. Smith also said that the testimony provided by Chris Hatcher did not sufficiently consider his mental illness, since the psychologist at no time examined him or provided a diagnosis of his mental health.

In considering the plea, the Supreme Court decided that introducing the testimony of Chris Hatcher was admissable because it helped establish the identity of Smith as both a sadist and a pedophile. In considering the plea, the Supreme Court noted that it was acceptable to introduce information concerning a defendant's mental state if it were more "probative" (meaning likely to lessen the sentence found by jurors) than "punitive" (inclining the severity of the punishment to be issued). The Supreme Court ruled that the testimony provided by Chris Hatcher was probative and therefore permissable and rejected the claim filed by Smith.

Chris Hatcher also testified in the 1985 trial of Cameron Hooker, who, along with his wife, kidnapped and sexual assaulted Colleen Stan for seven years. Chris Hatcher was one of the first witnesses to testify for the prosecution, and his testimony about Hooker and behavior patterns he manifested was considered crucial in obtaining a conviction on seven of the eight charges filed against him.

Fantasia Barrino

Fantasia Barrino is an American singer who has been involved in a number of separate legal disputes. One of her first major legal problems occurred in September of 2006, following the 2005 publication of her memoir "Fantasia: Life Is Not A Fairy Tale." In the book, Fantasia Barrino stated that, among other things, her father Joseph prioritized her musical pursuits over her education and often asked for money when visiting. In response, her father filed a lawsuit seeking $10 million from publisher Simon & Schuster for libel. No public resolution to this trial was reported.

In 2008, one of her houses was almost foreclosed upon. Fantasia Barrino had taken out a $68,000 loan from Broward Energy Partners, which had paid that sum to cover her taxes owed. After only receiving $10,000 in repayment, Broward sued. The house was transferred to the custody of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office for foreclosure in January of 2009. However, a private settlement agreement was reached before this took place.

In August 2010, Fantasia Barrino was named in a lawsuit filed by Paula Cook, who was divorcing her husband Antwaun. In her complaint, she said that Fantasia Barrino had knowingly begun with an adulterous relationship with her husband, and that she and her husband had only separated in June of 2010. The complaint also alleged that Fantasia Barrino had filmed sex tapes with her husband. After reading the complaint against her, Fantasia Barrino issued a statement saying that all the allegations against her were false. Following the complaint, Fantasia Barrino attempted suicide but successfully recovered.

During the divorce hearings of November 2010, Fantasia Barrino was required to appear in court to testify. During her testimony, she said that she had become pregnant with Antwaun's child and received an abortion on her own initiative. She also testified that Antwaun had told her he was separated from his wife when they began a relationship that lasted 11 months. The judge ruled in her favor after investigations determined that Antwaun and Paula Cook had separated in September of 2009, 10 months earlier than Paula Cook had claimed. This ruling precluded Paula Cook from filing suit under the Alienation of Affection Law, which permits lawsuits against those responsible for the failure of a marriage.

Following the divorce trial, Fantasia Barrino and Antwaun Cook continued their relationship. In 2011, Fantasia Barrino was preparing to star in a dramatic biographical drama about the singer Mahalia Jackson while pregnant with her second child. However, a report in the New York publication "The New York Post" alleged that the production company making the film was considering making the project with Fantasia Barrino in response to concerns from Jackson's relatives about how her affairs might tarnish the image of the singer and movie. The production company denied the statements, disclaiming responsibility for all statements made by an employee not authorized to speak about the project.

Harry Perry

Harry Perry is a musician who has been performing on the Venice Beach boardwalk in California since 1973. In 1997 he was one of two parties in a lawsuit filed against the Los Angeles Police Department concerning his right to perform on this public area.

In 1995, Harry Perry was informed by the Los Angeles Police Department he was in violation of Los Angeles Municipal Code, which prohibits the sale of goods, as well as soliciting of donations on specific public areas of the city, which explicitly include the Venice Boardwalk. Because Harry Perry sold his music in recorded form and requested donations from passers-by, he was in violation of the law.

Two exceptions to this prohibition exist in the Los Angeles Municipal Code. One applies to non-profit organizations soliciting or selling goods which have a religious, ideological or social component. The other exception applies to vendors of newspapers and periodicals. The Los Angeles Police Department argued that Harry Perry should apply for non-profit status in order to enter into compliance with the Los Angeles Municipal Code.

The case was ultimately ruled on by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In reviewing the case, the court found that while the municipal code had a justifiable purpose in attempting to provide more access for licensed merchants on the Venice Boardwalk, it could not be demonstrated that the presence of a musician such as Harry Perry was more intrusive than that of a licensed non-profit organization. Additionally, they noted that because Harry Perry is a member of the Sikh religious faith, his statements constituted a form of religious faith protected under the First Amendment, and that the fact that he sold his recordings rather than giving them away was irrelevant. The court therefore ruled in favor of Harry Perry.

JonBenét Ramsey

The murder of child pageant star JonBenét Ramsey was one of the most high-profile criminal cases of its kind in the 1990s. The prominence accorded to the case and the media coverage has not entirely ended to this day, since the case of JonBenét Ramsey has never been formally closed.

The basic facts in the case of JonBenét Ramsey are not greatly disputed. JonBenét Ramsey was a 6-year-old child pageant participant at the time of her death in 1996, which occurred on Christmas Day.The following day, Patsy, the mother of JonBenét Ramsey, called the police to report that she had found a ransom note in her house demanding payment of $118,000 for the return of her daughter. That day, her husband John began searching the house when they discovered the body of JonBenét Ramsey in the basement, heavily bound with a number of restraints.

An autopsy was inconclusive as to whether sexual assault had been an element of her death. At the time of the initial police investigation, the Ramsays advanced their theory that the death of JonBenét Ramsey had come about as the result of a break-in by someone in the internet. However, both public and police suspicion regarding the death of JonBenét Ramsey concentrated heavily upon her parents. The evidence tying the parents to the case was never more than circumstantial. For example, in 1997 several handwriting experts issued analyses concluding that the ransom note seemed to have been written by Patsy.

In light of the inconclusive nature of the investigation, independent investigation efforts intended to either condemn or exonerate the family of JonBenét Ramsey continued. The family maintained that they believed an intruder had been responsible for the death of JonBenét Ramsey and hired former FBI behavioral scientist John E. Douglas to conduct an investigation. Douglas published the results of his investigation in 2001, concluding that the death of JonBenét Ramsey was in all probability the result of a kidnapping which had been mishandled.

In 2008, a major new development occurred when new DNA tests were performed. The results were obtained from clothing worn by JonBenét Ramsey at the time of her murder and showed that none of the DNA could be traced to any family member. The results led to an apology from the Boulder County District Attorney, documented in a letter that announced the family's complete exoneration.

Despite the official dismissal of any suspicion against the surviving family members of JonBenét Ramsey, public opinion in the case still is open to a number of interpretations and theories. For example, in 2012 detective Jim Kolar publicly asserted that key evidence ignored at the time of the initial investigation made the theory of assault and murder by an intruder possible. As part of his evidence, Kolar cited a basement cobweb that should have been brushed away by any intruder entering the house. The investigation into the death of JonBenét Ramsey remains technically ongoing.