Michael Jackson juror accused of plagiarism

Aug 19, 2005, 17:50 GMT

A Michael Jackson juror writing a book on the star's child abuse trial has been accused of plagiarism.

An extract from upcoming exposé 'The Deliberator' by Ray Hultman, published by a US newspaper earlier this week, is allegedly a word-for-word copy of part of an article by Vanity Fair magazine.

Respected journalist Maureen Orth claims the excerpt - which described Jackson's shocking appearance - came straight from a report she wrote for the magazine in April 2003.

The snippet read: "Up close, Michael Jackson's appearance is amazing. He wears a black pageboy wig, and his face is caked with white makeup, which conceals a prosthesis that serves as the tip of his nose. One person, who has seen him without the device, says he resembles a mummy with nostril holes."

Orth told America's New York Post newspaper: "This is just another indication of how thoroughly flawed that process was and how deeply celebrity affects a jury."

However, Larry Garrison - a film producer, who is promoting Hultman's book - claims the writer that wrote those lines for the book's proposal has since been sacked from Hultman's writing team.

He said: "The person who wrote that part has since been fired from the project. That was an older version of the proposal."

In 'The Deliberator', Hultman is set to claim he feels Jackson - who was found innocent of all charges - was wrongly acquitted of child molestation.

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