The Thriller is over

[mranderson]

Michale Jackson has been aquitted on all ten counts.

Your thoughts?

[ibda12u]

Wow, man that could have gone either way. I'm still not sure what to think about it all. I just know my kids never gonna visit Neverland Ranch.

[Patrick]

Ah....just let your kids visit his home...then collect from a civil lawsuit!

Anyways, I think it's sorta interesting that he's vowed that he won't be sharing his bed with boys anymore. Michael Jackson is a nut.

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"Jackson Site Hails Verdict As 'Historic'


SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) -- Michael Jackson's Web site trumpeted his courtroom vindication Tuesday, linking it with such historic events as the birth of Martin Luther King Jr., while his lawyer vowed his client wouldn't be sharing his bed with boys anymore.

"He's not going to do that anymore," attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. told NBC's "Today." "He's not going to make himself vulnerable to this anymore."

Jackson was acquitted Monday of child molestation, conspiracy and other counts by jurors who said the accusations of a young boy and his family were not credible - a legal victory that triggered jubilation among the pop star's fans and embarrassment for the district attorney's office.

The Jackson Web site mjjsource.com featured graphics declaring "Innocent" and showing a hand giving a victory sign as a fanfare plays. A scrolling calendar highlights historic events such as "Martin Luther King is born," "The Berlin Wall falls," "Nelson Mandela is freed," and finally, "June 13, 2005, Remember this date for it is a part of HIStory." The reference was to Jackson's 1995 album "HIStory: Past, Present, and Future Book I."

Mesereau said Jackson didn't eat during the trial, didn't sleep and lost weight. "It was a terrible ordeal for him," Mesereau said.

"He's going to take it one day at a time. It's been a terrible, terrible process for him," Mesereau said Tuesday.

A raucous welcome greeted Jackson as he returned to his Neverland Ranch on Monday afternoon. As a convoy of black SUVs carrying him and his entourage pulled through the gates, his sister LaToya rolled down a window, smiled widely and waved. The crowd responded with a euphoric cheer.

"All of us here and millions around the world love and support you," proclaimed a banner strung across a fence by the compound in Los Olivos that Jackson said he created to provide himself with the childhood he never enjoyed.



"It's victory," said Tracee Raynaud, 39. "God is alive and well."

Aside from the Web site message, there was no comment from Jackson or his family Tuesday. He has no media representative since Raymone K. Bain was dismissed last week, and neither he nor his family issued any statements Tuesday morning.

The acquittals marked a stinging defeat for Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon, who displayed open hostility for Jackson and had pursued him for more than a decade, trying to prove the rumors that swirled around Jackson about his fondness for children.

Sneddon sat with his head in his hands after the verdicts were read.

"We don't select victims of crimes and we don't select the family. We try to make a conscientious decision and go forward," Sneddon said afterward, adding "I'm not going to look back and apologize for anything that we've done."

Jurors may have acquitted Jackson of all charges of molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor, but not all of them were convinced the King of Pop had never molested a child.

"He's just not guilty of the crimes he's been charged with," said Ray Hultman, who told The Associated Press he was one of three people on the 12-person panel who voted to acquit only after the other nine persuaded them there was reasonable doubt about the entertainer's guilt in this particular case.

Prosecutors presented testimony about Jackson's allegedly improper relationships with several boys in the early 1990s, including the son of a maid who testified that Jackson molested him during tickling session between 1987 and 1990. Another, Brett Barnes, took the stand to deny that he was molested during sleepovers at Neverland.

But Hultman said he believed it was likely that both boys had been molested. He said he voted to acquit Jackson in the current case because he had doubts about his current accuser's credibility.

"That's not to say he's an innocent man," Hultman, 62, said of Jackson.

Some jurors noted they were troubled by Jackson's admission that he allowed boys into his bed for what he characterized as innocent sleepovers.

"We would hope first of all that he doesn't sleep with children anymore and that he learns that they have to stay with their families or stay in the guest rooms or the houses or whatever they're called down there," jury foreman Paul Rodriguez said. "And he just has to be careful how he conducts himself around children."

Some jurors acknowledged they flatly disliked the accuser's mother, portrayed by the defense as a welfare cheat who brought a trumped-up lawsuit against J.C. Penney, accusing store guards of roughing her and her family up. "I disliked it intensely when she snapped her fingers at us," said one juror, a woman, who declined to give her name.

Another woman juror said she felt sorry for the accuser and his siblings, believing they had been trained by their mother to lie. "As a mother, the values she has taught them, it's hard for me to comprehend," she said. "I wouldn't want any of my children to lie for their own gain."

The verdict means Jackson will be free to try to rebuild his blighted musical career. But his legal victory came at a terrible price to his image.

Prosecutors branded him a deviant who used his playland as the ultimate pervert's lair, plying boys with booze and porn. Prosecution witnesses described other bizarre behavior by Jackson: They said he licked his accuser's head, simulated a sex act with a mannequin, kept dolls in bondage outfits on his desk.

Defense lawyers described Jackson as a humanitarian who wanted to protect kids and give them the life he never had while growing up as a child star. The boy had asked to meet the star when he thought he was dying of cancer.

The defense said the family exploited the boy's illness to shake down celebrities, then concocted the charges after realizing Jackson was cutting them off from a jet-set lifestyle that included limo rides and stays at luxurious resorts.

Jackson was cleared of 10 charges in all, including four counts that he molested the boy in early 2003. Jackson also was charged with providing the boy with wine - "Jesus juice," the pop star called it - and conspiring with members of his inner circle to hold the accuser and his family captive to get them to rebut a damaging documentary. Jurors also had to consider four lesser charges related to the alcohol counts, forcing them to render 14 verdicts in all.

The case was set in motion by the 2003 broadcast of the British TV documentary "Living With Michael Jackson" that Jackson had hoped would actually improve his image. In the program, Jackson held hands with the boy who would later accuse him, and he acknowledged sharing his bed with children, a practice he described as sweet and not at all sexual.

After the verdict, a weary Jackson retreated to Neverland where, according to his family, he went straight to bed. The entertainer, who appeared exhausted as he shuffled out of court, is "trying to get back his strength," said his father, Joe Jackson.

"I feel justice was done," Jackson's father said. "We thank the fans for supporting us."

As the verdict was read, Jackson sat motionless, as he did throughout the trial, only dabbing at his eyes with a tissue. One of his lawyers, Susan Yu, burst into tears. Some of the women on the jury also wept.

"I'm shaking," said Emily Smith, 24, of London, who was among the few lucky fans in Santa Maria who got courtroom passes to hear the reading of the verdicts. "I believe justice has been done today. I can't tell you how good it feels."

[Patrick]

I think it's interesting now how they're saying Michael could make a comeback. Whatever.

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"Experts: Jackson could make a comeback

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY
AP Music Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Michael Jackson's career has been declared dead before.

When his success as a child wunderkind fronting The Jackson Five was waning, some doubted whether he could make it as an adult star - and were proven wrong. And when he had hits again with his brothers as part of The Jacksons, others questioned whether he could become a solo success - and they were wrong.

After Jackson became one of the most popular entertainers in history - and saw his image tarnished by a 1993 allegation of child molestation - many doubted that he would have a No. 1 hit again. But he did.

Still, after being charged with molesting a young cancer patient and a seamy, graphic trial featuring an avalanche of porn and allegations of sex with young boys, can Jackson's career withstand this latest blow, even with Monday's acquittal on all counts?

According to industry analysts, the answer is of course.

"He can have success," said Antonio "L.A" Reid, chairman and CEO of Island Def Jam. "I would say that he has to just make great music and concentrate on nothing else but making great music and making great live performances."

The public hasn't concentrated on Jackson as a musical figure for a long time. His last album, a greatest hits project, was released the day of his arrest on child molestation charges in 2003. For the past year and a half, news around Jackson has centered on allegations of sex with children, giving them alcohol, and other questionable behavior at Neverland Ranch.

"People have been fascinated with Michael as a celebrity," says Jack Isquith, head of label relations at AOL Music, which premieres the latest videos, concerts and singles by the nation's top pop acts.

"He has declined in terms of his record sales and his musical standing ... there's no question that Michael has been perceived on the wane," Isquith said. "(But) if Michael Jackson were to play the Apollo and it was monumentally brilliant ... I think that would really register a lot of focus on Michael as a musical (figure)."

Las Vegas might be a possibility for him to make that great live performance. On Tuesday, Jack Wishna, who has a minority interest in Trump's New Frontier Hotel and Casino, said he had been in talks with Jackson before the trial to perform on the Strip, and hopes to continue those negotiations.

"I am still interested in bringing his talents to Las Vegas," he said in a statement.

Even before the trial, Jackson's musical career had taken a backseat to his increasingly bizarre behavior - from extensive plastic surgery to holding his infant son over a balcony. And his career was seriously damaged by the 1993 child molestation accusation.

That case went away when Jackson paid a multimillion-dollar settlement while maintaining his innocence, and no criminal charges were filed. Since then, Jackson has released just two albums that have sold about 2 million copies each - great numbers for most artists, but considered a flop given Jackson's previous stellar sales.

Still, he had retained his star power - a 2001 concert paying tribute to his 30 years in music featured a who's who of celebrities and legends, including Destiny's Child, Marlon Brando, Liza Minnelli, Whitney Houston, 'N Sync, Britney Spears and Elizabeth Taylor.

"To sell two million records says a lot," Reid noted. "By the way, I'm not sure how many records Madonna sold, but I don't think it's very much more than that, probably about that."

Actually, it was less - her 2003 album "American Life" struggled to reach 1 million in sales.

Yet, there is a considerable "ick" factor when it comes to Michael Jackson. Though acquitted of child molestation, most people have been repulsed by his admission to sleeping in the same bed with children, even if it was non-sexual. He also carries plenty of baggage given his eccentric behavior over the years and plastic surgery that has reduced him to a disturbing visual image.

But negative publicity - no matter how unseemly - doesn't necessarily mean the end of a career anymore.

Take R. Kelly. In 2002, videotapes circulated showing a man bearing a striking resemblance to Kelly having sex with what appeared to be an underage girl - and then urinating on her. Later that year, he was charged with child pornography, and pundits declared his career over.

A year later, he released the critically acclaimed "Chocolate Factory" - which debuted at the top of the charts. Since then, he has released two other platinum projects, and worked with several top acts, including Britney Spears and Jay-Z.

DJ Paul Cubby Bryant, of New York City pop radio station Z100, said that if Jackson put out new music, he would let the audience decide its fate. "I think we would test the waters, and play it and see what the reaction was," Bryant said.

Of course, Jackson faces plenty of challenges in making a comeback. First, he doesn't have a label home - his commitment to Sony Music is just about over, and given the acrimony that relationship devolved into in recent years, he won't likely be recording a new album for them.

But Reid has said he would sign him, and Jackson already has at least one top producer willing to work with him.

"I would do records on Michael Jackson," said multiplatinum artist Missy Elliott in an interview with The Associated Press recently. "Michael Jackson, he went through his thing where I think he was the biggest I think he could ever be. Of course, I don't think it would come back to that, but you've got a lot of people out there who respect and love Michael, like loyal fans."

One pundit said his criminal case has been a career boost, and predicted a public rehabilitation of his reputation, a la Martha Stewart.

"I think that his acquittal will be enormously helpful to his career. Now he has the David and Goliath (parallel) on his side," said Paul Levinson, Chairman of Media and Communications at Fordham University. "He stood up to the government... He proved almost all the pundits wrong."

As far as refurbishing his tarnished image? Reid said that should be the last of Jackson's worries. "That's how he got in trouble, by changing his image... Let the music do the talking, leave the rest of it alone.""

[PamK1]

Pretty bad when your accuser and witnesses have less credability then the accused child molester. I could see the reasonable doubt. But I do think the parents should be charged for neglect in knowing dropping their kids off with that Wacko. I couldn't believe that some security guards claim they saw sexual abuse and then did not report it. Why are they not charged with a crime? I thought you had to report that kind of stuff.

[Faith]

I'm going off the subject a little... but.. I couldn't help but notice how Latoya Jackson and Michael have the exact same nose. I don't know why she would want to have cosmetic surgery to make her nose look just like Michaels. It almost looks as if they try to look like one another.. Very Weird!

[Intrepid]

I'm going off the subject a little... but.. I couldn't help but notice how Latoya Jackson and Michael have the exact same nose. I don't know why she would want to have cosmetic surgery to make her nose look just like Michaels. It almost looks as if they try to look like one another.. Very Weird!

I've read somewhere that LaToya did that to mimick Michael and hope to gain the same popularity. Just pure speculation, but I can see her being jealous of his fame.

Someone mentioned previously some doubt in making a comeback. I think he can, but he'll have to do it in Europe first.

I've never been a fan, but have liked a few songs.

[windowphobe]

Pure coincidence. They probably shopped at the same online nose store.