Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Hello again,

I want to thank you all for answering my question Friday regarding

Michael Jackson faking his death.

Your answers were very helpful and also made me chuckle!

My 16 yr old daughter is starting to come to her senses regarding this .

But there are still some things that she is believing in...

if you could answer a couple more questions for me,

I believe that we will be able to put this Michael Jackson thing behind us

and our family can get back to normal.

For one she thinks that because on some documents

he is listed as Michael Jackson ,

some as Michael Joe Jackson and some as Michael Joseph Jackson

that he would not be held liable for any hoax related crimes

if his legal middle name is Joe instead of Joseph..

I have tried to explain to her that all 3 names would be recognized by the court as the same person.

Also she thinks that MJ would not be held responsible

for his estate making money,

because he didn't force the fans to buy the cd's, movie tickets...etc.

Wouldn't he still be held liable for profiting from a faked death?

She lastly believes that if this isn't a hoax for a huge comeback,

which I think she is now seeing how that couldn't be possible without legal ramifications,

she believes that the government is helping MJ in the witness protection program to help expose Drug Companies,

and that if he had is life threatened twice, that it is legal to fake your death.

As you can see, the imagination of a teenage girl is very vivid,

but she is starting to see the light with your legal help.

I know that you are quite busy and this is such a silly question, so I really want to thank you for your help!

Tired Mom


Asked on 10/05/09, 3:59 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joe Dane Law Office of Joe Dane

Holy cow. Your daughter would do well to devote half the time to her studies as she does to the crazy conspiracy theories.

Okay - for you, Tired Mom - I'll address the questions in order, but only if you promise me your daughter will let this go.

The name thing -

My legal name is Joseph. Only my mom, when she's mad, calls me Joseph. Everybody calls me Joe. Guess what? I'm still the same person. If "Joe" gets a speeding ticket, "Joseph" is also in trouble. I can't fight the ticket just because it says "Joe."

The civil liability for faking his death -

No, he didn't force his fans to buy CDs, but if he intentionally did something, like say, fake his death, to drive up sales, then he's falsely advertised the scarcity of his music, creating a false market for his products. He would be exposed to massive lawsuits for the profits gained by a buying frenzy now that he's dead. By the way... he IS dead.

The Government is in on it... -

Yeah. They've got him in witness protection. I'm sure he'd be a star witness in any case they ever built against anyone.

No, you may not fake your death because you've been threatened once, twice or a million times.

So - we're all agreed then? Michael Joe/Joseph Jackson is dead. R.I.P. Michael. He's not in hiding, he will NOT be holding a comeback tour and it's now time for some other obsession.

Get some rest, Mom.

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Answered on 10/05/09, 4:10 pm


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