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 22nd American Music Award for Artist of the Century. On February 22 of the same year, his third child, Prince Michael Jackson II (nicknamed "Blanket") was born. The mother's identity was not announced, but Jackson said Prince was the result of artificial insemination from a surrogate mother and his own sperm. Jackson alleged in July 2002 that Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola was a "devil" and "racist" who did not support his African-American artists, using them merely for his own gain. He charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nigger". Sony refused to renew Jackson's contract,