Exclusive Interview with Jackson Juror, Paul Rodriguez - Part Two

Exclusive Interview with Jackson Juror, Paul Rodriguez - Part Two
Larry Harriet, Investigative Journalist
October 8th, 2005

Last night, after receiving many e-mails from you, I compiled a list of 20 questions, and last night, I IMed Jackson Juror, Paul Rodriguez, and he was kind enough to answer my questions.

Paul Rodriguez -I want to thankyou very much for answering those questions I gave you last week. I posted them on my blog and the e-mail's I got were fantastic. Many people thankyou very much for giving interviews on the insight of your decision to aquit Jackson. I posted on a court watchers message board, and asked my fellow members if they had any questions for you.

1. Are you planning on writing a book?
You know what, I have talked to some people, nothing set in stone but I have considered it, and might do it.

2. What do you think of Ray Hultman and Ellie Cook writing their books?
I'm not mad, but disapointed. I saw their interview and read their press statements, and I was really disapointed. I was a juror who FOLLED THE LAW of REASONABLE DOUBTand they twisted the things I said in order to sell books, when what I said, was the LAW of reasonable doubt. You have to look at the EVIDENCE and what you believe aboutsomething doesn't matter.

3. What happened with the juror who brought in the court tv episode of Nancy Grace and Diane Dimond?
We never saw it, we couldn't get the VCR to work.

4. Do you that in the case and your decision that you did something wrong?
No, I don't I followed the law of reasonable doubt. We had to consider him not only as a celebrity, but as a person, who under the law has the right to a fair trial and the presumptionof innocence.

5. How do you take the criticism of people like Wendy Murphy who claims you of having "dumb-juror" syndrome?
I disagree. I'm a smart person, who followed the evidence, and it just wasn't there.

6. How do you think jury's convict people of child molestation/rape cases?
I think that if they convict they must convict beyond a reasonable doubt, there has to be a smoking gun, like a video, semen, you know... SOMETHING of substance. Not just testimony.

7. What do you think of the mother who testified on behalf of the prosecution.
I'll say that she was rude, hostile, and bizare, she DID NOT represent my culture at all. I was frankly ashamed of her who thought she was a part of the latino club.

8. The mother, being a troublesome witness, did the mother directly affect your position?
I will say yes, she did, I looked for patterns in the way she talked and her sons talked and it all seemed programmed, they sounded alike.

9. Some of the jury thought there was smoke but no fire, did you see smoke?
Yes, I did, I thought that Michael Jackson has molested boys in the past, and probably molested this boy, but as I said, what we believe doesn't matter... the EVIDENCE has toPROVE IT.

10. What do you think of the juror that went to the jackson victory party?
I thought, well... thats fine, I guess. Kind of a stab, because we knew that something was wrong at "Neverland" but couldn't convict because of the testimony.

11. Did you ever make racist comments to the asian juror, Katarina Carls?
No.

12. If you could tell Mr. Tom Stendon one thing, what would that be?
I would tell him that during the trial, it clearly came through to us that you had an agenda, to take down a man, a human being, and it didn't work.

13. Did you ever watch television or read newspaper throughout the trial?
No, none at all. I tried so hard not to. I would be in the supermarket and hearing people talking about it, and I had to move to another isle quickly, because I did not want anythingto influence my decision, but I do have to say that I did accidently see the newspaper cover of "pajama day."

14. Do you regret your decision to aquit Michael Jackson?
Based on the evidence presented to us, no. If there was say a video, semen, or something that was a smoking gun on the molestation, I would of have voted GUILTY.

15. What did you think of "The Boy," Michael Jackson's collection of child porn?Didn't want to look at it, didn't want it to influence my decision.

16. Well you say, that you didn't want it to influence your decision, it was entered into evidence, so, why not look at it?
No comment.

17. What did you do after the verdict, did you watch/read anything about the case?
You know, I was pretty much Jacksoned-Out, I mean when you spend 5 mts. of your life, thinking about Jackson molesting boys, its nerve racking. So I gave a couple interviews,and kind of just slid out. I went home and rested.

18. All of the people who are mad at you the jury, because they felt Jackson was guilty, what would you say to them?
I studied the evidence, based on reasonable doubt, I voted Not Guilty.

19. Did you want evidence that proved the case beyond reasonable doubt or all doubt?
Well, I'd say reasonable doubt, I mean the bar was set high and the evidence just didn't hold up.

20. Any closing thoughts?
Thanks for the questions, and I'll get to those others you gave.Thankyou very much for taking the time to answer our questions, I appreciate it.