Trial of Michael Jackson as well as conspiring to commit extortion and child abduction. Jackson pleaded not guilty to all counts. The trial spanned approximately 18 months, from Jackson's arraignment on January 16, 2004 to June 13, 2005, when the jury delivered a verdict of not guilty on all fourteen charges, which included the above ten plus four lesser misdemeanor counts. In a 2003 Granada Television documentary titled "Living with Michael Jackson", British journalist Martin Bashir interviewed Jackson extensively over a period of 8 months. The film was broadcast in the UK on February 3, 2003, and in the U.S. three days later. In
Michael Jackson memorial service Usher. In, addition to the above persons, ABC News reported, Lionel Richie's daughter Nicole, who was Michael's goddaughter, and singers Akon and Sean Combs would attend the services. Debbie Rowe, Jackson's ex-wife and mother of two of his three children, hoping not to be a distraction, did not attend the funeral. Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Ross, two of Jackson's closest friends, as well as Eliza Jackson Duphrey, Quincy Jones, Ivonne Ester Duphrey (Michael Jackson's cousins) also did not attend. Jackson was presented in a gold-plated solid bronze Promethean casket furnished by the Batesville Casket Company, which cost roughly $25,000. It