Posted on 06/19/2005 1:59:33 AM PDT by MadIvan
HUNDREDS of Michael Jackson fans were gathering outside his Neverland ranch yesterday in the expectation that he may leave America following his acquittal on sex abuse charges.
Jacksons lawyers are seeking the speedy return of his passport, which has been held by police since they raided his home north of Los Angeles in November 2003.
Reports suggested that the 46-year-old pop star, cleared last week after a lengthy trial of abusing a teenage boy at Neverland, may fly to Europe as early as this week. He was said to be considering the possibility of a holiday in Switzerland at the Gstaad home of Elizabeth Taylor, his cinema legend friend.
Financial advisers are waiting for approval to put his 3,000-acre fantasy ranch on the market for up to £40m as part of a package to help the singer pay off debts estimated at £200m.
Jackson is reluctant to lose Neverland, and has thought about turning it into an orphanage or a hospital for sick children, but financial realities seem to have dissuaded him.
Staff have begun moving the remaining animals out of its zoo and mothballing the fairground. A train that Jackson used to take visitors around the grounds has broken down and there is no money for repairs.
Fans who had been drifting away from Neverland after last Mondays 10 not guilty verdicts, began returning on Friday night after his family held a celebration of thanks at a casino near the ranch.
Around 400 family and fans packed the Chumash Indian casino, where Jacksons father Joseph stayed during the 14-week trial. The guests included the singers mother Katherine, Robert Sanger, a defence lawyer, and Pauline Coccoz, one of the jurors who acquitted him. The crowd erupted as Katherine Jackson appeared on stage at the end of the evening to thank fans.
We couldnt have done it without you, she said, standing alongside one of her sons, Tito. There was no sign of Michael Jackson.
Some fans claimed to have been given colour-coded armbands to allow them access to Neverland for one last visit yesterday afternoon before going on to meet Jacksons parents and other family members.
Jackson has not been seen since he was carried away from Santa Maria Court in an apparent daze after the verdicts were read out. His brother Jermaine said he was sleeping a lot.
Jermaine, part of the original Jackson Five act that turned Michael into a superstar nearly 40 years ago, fuelled speculation about the familys future last week after he announced on television that they were considering going abroad.
A German concert promoter said last week that Jackson would perform at a party for his father in Berlin on July 23, but has since withdrawn the claim.
Gavin Arvizo, Jacksons accuser, said he did not intend to launch a civil action against his former friend. I want to get on with my life, he said. On Friday, Thomas Mesereau, Jacksons lawyer, accused Tom Sneddon, the Santa Barbara district attorney, of using Arvizo as part of a personal vendetta against his client.
Now 16, he has recovered from the cancer that brought him to Jacksons attention and hopes to join the US navy.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
"Thiland"
Roman Polanski has a villa for rent.
Jackson is reluctant to lose Neverland, and has thought about turning it into an orphanage or a hospital for sick children, but financial realities seem to have dissuaded him.
Heck - there are enough of his own victims to be patients.
Thailand perhaps? Or Malaysia?
It will be harder for him to find victims in the United States, even with the pedophile park he lives in to snare his victims. I imagine he will move somewhere in Malaysia or elsewhere. The country must have lax law enforcement and a steady supply of light skinned boys.
Oh, please, let it be so!
I am amazed that he stayed in the USA this long.
I hope he takes his whole stinking family with him. Maybe they can all wear their white suits.
Whichever country will ordain him King (or is it, Queen?).
The sad thing is that despite efforts by his handlers/family/bodyguards, he won't stop molesting, so his best bet is to go where it's winked at. If he remains in the US, the law will do its best not to lay charges against him, no matter what. Too expensive, and what's the point? Juries not likely to convict. Martha Stewart didn't have that pop star 'likeability' factor. (If Oprah fiddled with stock sales and lied about it, she'd be found innocent.)
Wacko Jacko heard about this Gay Paris place and is all set to give it a shot.
He'll flee to the vatican.
Think about it.
Maybe Calypso Louie has a room for him on the mother ship.
I hope he goes somewhere where they hang child molesters. Maybe he will learn to just keep molesting his own nose.
North Korea would be better. He'd get along fine with fellow kookie Kim who would, no doubt, provide him with an endless supply of fresh meat from his starving populace in exchange for a share of royalties.
I imagine the risk of the forfeiture of said assets played a major role here. His finances aren't as liquid as they once were and the chance of being found "not guilty" was strong enough that his managers were able to convince him to stick it out.
Although judging from what they described of him being in a heavily sedated state during the reading of the verdict, I suspect with a lesser dosage FOX would have had one hell of a car chase story.
I have found a pictorial guide to Neverland. If anyone is interested, they need to take a look. It's basically a child's amusement park.
If anything it's leads those who question what sort of mind Michael Jackson has to one conclusion or another.
Does it hurt when your knuckles drag the ground?
The jury handed down a verdict of not guilty. The all too frequent FR pileing on isn't going to change a damn thing.
I think Jay Leno's testimony blew a weak case completely out of the water for an over the top prosecutor.
Jackson was an easy target because he is a very strange person. Hopefully it takes more than strange to get a person in the United States jail time.
What about Randy? He seems Cool, he can stay. Jesse can go with him, but I want to keep Bo and Reggie here in the states.
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