Rock History

2005 – Pop superstar Michael Jackson is found not guilty on all counts of his child molestation trial in Santa Maria, Calif. Jackson, 46, had been charged with molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor in 2003, serving him wine and conspiring to hold the boy and his family hostage at his Neverland estate in order to get them to rebut a television documentary.

2005 – A Neverland Ranch security guard testifies that he saw Michael Jackson perform oral sex on a young boy in the 1990s. The witness appeared at the King of Pop’s child molestation trial in Santa Maria, Calif.

2005 – A lawyer for Michael Jackson is treated for pneumonia outside the Santa Maria, Calif., courthouse as the King of Pop’s child molestation circus – we mean “trial” – continues.

2005 – The younger brother of Michael Jackson’s accuser testifies that he twice saw the King of Pop fondle his sibling at the Neverland Ranch. Jackson is on trial in Santa Maria, Calif., on child molestation charges.

2005 – Michael Jackson’s trial on child molestation charges finally opens in Santa Maria, Calif. Santa Barbara County DA Tom Sneddon introduces the prosecution’s case with an hours-long opening argument.

Michael Jackson

2005 – The jury is selected for The Trial of the Century (C), aka Michael Jackson’s child molestation trial.

2005 – Michael Jackson is rushed to the hospital, suffering from flu. His stay means that jury selection in the King of Pop’s child molestation trial has to be postponed.

2004 – Phil Spector is arrested on This Day in Rock! Arguing over their business relationship, Phil and his chauffeur got into a slight knock down which ended in both trying to make a citizen’s arrest to the other.

2004 – Courtney Love is ordered by a Los Angeles judge to stand trial for two counts of drug possession. Love appears in court with a copy of The 48 Laws of Power and tells the judge she will be “on tour” the date of her next hearing.

Sinead O'Connor

1999 – Sinead O’Connor, the Irish singer and talker, advises the U.S. Senate to stop wasting money… in a starving world on the trial of Bill Clinton. In a letter in the Irish Times, she asks: “Does impeachment mean they’re gonna turn him into a peach? If so, can I eat him?”

1998 – Three ex-members of the San Francisco punk band the Dead Kennedys sue former lead singer Jello Biafra (Eric Reed Boucher), claiming he diverted money owed to his bandmates for his own use. The action is filed by East Bay Ray (Ray Pepperell), Klaus Flouride (Geoffrey Lyall), and D.H. Peligro (Darren Henley). The suit goes to trial in April 2000.

1981 – Motorhead bassist Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor is fined 40 pounds after being found guilty of cannabis possession. The judge throws another 15 pound fine on top of that because Philthy didn’t show up for his initial trial in April.