Posted on 06/14/2005 1:53:54 AM PDT by Mo1
SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- One of the jurors who acquitted Michael Jackson on all counts said he believes the pop star is "probably" a molester, but the prosecution didn't prove it.
In an interview on CNN, juror Raymond Hultman questioned the way Jackson has shared his bedroom and bed with young boys. Hultman said "that doesn't make sense" to him.
But, he said, that didn't make Jackson guilty of the charges presented in this case.
Jackson is back home at his Neverland ranch after being found not guilty on all 10 counts in his molestation and conspiracy trial.
Jackson looked straight ahead as the not guilty verdict was read, vindicating the pop star who insisted he was the victim of mother-and-son con artists and a prosecutor with a vendetta. The singer dabbed at his eyes while hearing the court clerk announce his acquittal on all counts.
One of Jackson's lawyers burst into tears as the verdict was announced. He later got hugs from her and from head lawyer Thomas Mesereau.
Jurors also acquitted Jackson of conspiring to imprison his accuser and the boy's family at his storybook estate. It was a total legal victory for Jackson and his defense team.
Screams of joy rang out among a throng of fans outside the courthouse as the not guilty verdict was read on the final charge. Jackson had been facing a possible sentence of more than 18 years in prison.
The jury heard some 14 weeks of testimony, then deliberated for more than 30 hours.
Jackson appeared stone-faced as he began to walk out of the courthouse, flanked by sisters LaToya and Janet. His brother, Jermaine, could be seen smiling while waiting for him to exit.
Jackson held a hand out in front of him in a mini-wave while being escorted to his vehicle by security guards
As the screams from supporters grew louder, Jackson touched his heart twice and waved again before blowing a kiss to the crowd. He was then put into his black SUV before his caravan drove away -- chased by some fans.
"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.
I thought the same thing when I saw her say that.
is the entire state of California star struck?
Merely sleeping in the same bed, doesn't equal hanky panky. Kids sleep with parents, with grandparents, etc. at various times. I've heard that illegals have several people to a bed of different ages and both sexes. I doubt they are getting frisky with each other.
Sleeping is not a lewd act.
Deja Vu all over again. One of O.J's jurors said he probably did it but the prosecution didn't remove reasonable doubt.....(he could have left his drivers license at the scene and that bunch of morons wouldn't have convicted). So now we have MJ, free to have overnighters at Neverland, stupid, idioic parents that will allow their children to go and the list goes on. Pedophilia, is NOT treatable, cannot be cured and these people NEED to be locked away. In MJ's case, even if he isn't a pedophile, needs to be locked up for disfiguring his face! That shows some nutso problems right there..(sarcasm). *~*
Shapiro was on O'Reilly last night, and this was basically his point. (He was especially scornful of the prosecutor's asking "what we've learned" -- he said, after 30 years practice, this isn't law school!) He noted that if the prosecution hadn't gone with the conspiracy and kidnapping, the mother would have been kept out of it, eliminating a major distraction from the molestation charges.
I bet they'd have found him guilty if he was black
Didn't the defense at one point have a witness trying to impeach the accuser's and his brother's characters by testifying that he'd seen them at Neverland, drinking and looking at porn? Considering they were allegedly under Michael's supervision at the time, isn't that an admission that he let them have alcohol as a prelude to lewd activities?
Personally, I don't think these 12 dunderheads would have found him guilty if he'd been charged with having a nose job.
A stranger inviting children into his bed is not exactly a slumber party. There have been too many accusations, including ones that MJ has paid to keep quiet.
Then there are the showers and vasoline.
The new question is : When does MJ start sleeping with kids again?
I say "Soon". His justification will be "If I stopped, I'd be proving I was guilty".
Oh yeah?! Well I'd bet they'd hanged him if he was WHITE!!!
Jacko will never be prosecuted again -- he will claim he is being persecuted and will get away with it.
Only in California would we be stupid enough to let this molestor go. Don't forget, this is the same state that let some kids go after seeing TAPES of them sexually molesting an unconscious girl.
You nailed it. He made too big a production out of it. He should've stuck to basic, provable facts instead of trying to throw the book at him.
Remember Gil Garcetti? Instead of trying the Rodney King cops with assault, he went with Attempted Murder among other things, and there was no way they could prove it. So the cops walked, and started one of the worst riots (Watts II) in California history.
Self-aggrandizement is a big problem with DAs, because like any other lawyer, they want glory and publicity for their career or their book. If they just do their job right, they'll get all the glory they need, but some of them don't see that.
Oh sure, grown men with gay porn and glasses of wine in their rooms with little boys. They're just sleeping together to save space.
Right you are........and maybe a new tatic should be applied here...........arrest ANY parent that would allow their child to stay at Neverland!
Yesterday after the verdict, the "fans", many of them ADULTS, went bonkers, hugging, kissing and crying as though their whole lives hinged on Jackson being released.
An interesting theory is that the current lack of religion in people's lives has created a vacuum......a vacuum filled by worshiping public figures. Jackson is a god to these aimless and immature people. Their very existence and salvation depended on Whacko being set free after an "unjustified" crucifixtion. It's very cultish.
When you believe in nothing, you'll soon believe in anything.
Leni
"Oh yeah?! Well I'd bet they'd hanged him if he was WHITE!!!"
Well some honky made the alcohol MJ gave to the kids. So that makes it Bush's fault.
"Jackson was probably a child molester"..
They didn't like the Mother and thought she was a grifter, but in reality, she is just the type of person who WANTED Jackson to molest her son for the $$$$$. They couldn't see that.
I can't say I know if he's guilty of what he was accused of. But yeah, he's a pedophile whether he's acted illegally on those urges or not. That this is even in doubt given his admitted behavior boggles the mind.
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