Gavin Arvizo’s name is appearing in entertainment coverage again as Netflix revisits Michael Jackson’s 2005 criminal trial.
Arvizo was the teenage accuser at the center of the case. Jackson was acquitted of all charges in June 2005.
People reported that Arvizo has stayed out of the public eye since the trial and did not participate in Netflix’s Michael Jackson: The Verdict.
The renewed attention has come from the docuseries and new coverage around the case, not from Arvizo giving interviews or returning to public life.
Netflix Revisits the 2005 Trial
Netflix Tudum says Michael Jackson: The Verdict is a three-part docuseries about the trial, built around interviews with people connected to the courtroom, including jurors, attorneys, journalists, and witnesses.
The series returns to a case the public could not watch live because cameras were not allowed inside the courtroom. Netflix says the project uses interviews, archival footage, trial notes, and media coverage to reconstruct the proceedings.
Arvizo Did Not Take Part in the New Series
People reported that Arvizo has not given interviews or appeared in film projects about Jackson’s trial since the 2005 acquittal. He did not participate in Michael Jackson: The Verdict or HBO’s 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland.
Family friend Louise Palanker told TheWrap in 2019 that Arvizo did not want the Jackson case to define his adult life. People also reported that he married longtime girlfriend Shelby Drake in Atlanta in 2013 and has worked in sales, education, and as a paralegal.
The Trial Ended With Jackson’s Acquittal
Jackson was charged in 2003 after Arvizo accused him of child sexual abuse and related conduct. He denied wrongdoing.
Biography reported that the 2005 trial lasted 14 weeks before jurors found Jackson not guilty on all charges. The Los Angeles Times reported that the Netflix series describes the case as one that ended with a jury finding Jackson not guilty on 10 counts, including four counts of child molestation.
People reported that Michael Jackson: The Verdict ends by noting that the Arvizo family has not spoken publicly since the trial.