Juror: Jackson 'Probably' A Molester
'The Man's Innocent,' Jackson's Lawyer Says
MICHAEL JACKSON CAREER |
"This proves that justice can prevail in America," one fan said. "We love you Michael!" shouted Tara Bardella, 19, who was in the crowd outside the courthouse.Cheers of "innocent" erupted outside the courthouse after the verdicts were read. More than 300 anxious fans and onlookers had waited for the verdicts outside the courthouse in Santa Maria. They chanted "innocent" in unison as they pressed against a chain link fence that served as a barrier.Some waved signs that read "Keep Michael Free" and stood atop stepladders to get a better look.Jurors in the Jackson trial are hoping it's from here to obscurity for them. After the innocent verdicts were announced, the judge read a statement from the jury that said: "We the jury feel the weight of the world's eyes upon us." The jurors asked to be allowed to return to "our private lives as anonymously as we came."The jurors did meet with reporters after the trial. One juror said the process of reaching a verdict was simple -- they all "just looked at the evidence and pretty much agreed" that Michael Jackson was innocent.The jurors who acquitted the singer on all counts said they made it a point from the beginning to look at Jackson as an ordinary person, not a star. They said from there, it was easier to deal with the case.They said the intense media glare on the case didn't make them uncomfortable. What did make one juror uncomfortable was the mother of Jackson's accuser.Juror No. 5 said she remembered the woman snapping her fingers at the jury. The juror said she thought to herself, "Don't snap your fingers at me, lady."Another juror said she wonders why the accuser was allowed to stay with Jackson so long -- saying no mother "in her right mind" would let her child just go off and sleep with someone, Michael Jackson or anyone else.Jackson, 46, had been charged with conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion, three counts of committing lewd acts upon a child, one count of attempted lewd acts upon a child, and four counts of administering intoxicating agents to assist in the commission of a felony.Mesereau said justice was done in the case."The man's innocent. He always was," Mesereau said in a statement on a Jackson Web site.
- June 8, 2005: Gag Order Controversy Erupts At Jackson Trial
- June 7, 2005: No Jackson Verdict On Second Full Day
- June 6, 2005: Jackson Jury Goes Home Without Verdict
- June 6, 2005: Michael Jackson Hospitalized For Back Problems
- June 3, 2005: Michael Jackson Jurors Break For Weekend
- June 2, 2005: Jackson's Lawyer: Accuser's Family 'Looking For Big Payday'
- June 2, 2005: Jury To Hear Closing Arguments In Jackson Trial
- May 31, 2005: Final Arguments In Jackson Trial Expected Wednesday
- March 14, 2005: Jackson Now Fair Game For Leno
- March 10, 2005: Judge Decides Not To Enforce Arrest Warrant On Jackson
- March 7, 2005: James Brown Says Michael Jackson Was 'Set Up'
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