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Not guilty, but is he innocent?

Jury acquitted Jackson on all counts, but left impression that they have their suspicions about him

BY TINA SUSMAN | STAFF CORRESPONDENT

June 15, 2005

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson may have been acquitted, but if jurors' words are anything to go by, he was not exonerated.

In posttrial comments, several hinted - and some said bluntly - that they suspected he had indeed molested children. Faced with instructions to find him guilty beyond reasonable doubt, though, they conceded that they had to vote not guilty, something many who followed the case say is a victory for the justice system but not necessarily for Jackson, 46, who remained holed up at his Neverland Valley Ranch yesterday.

"Not guilty is not the same as innocent," said former Santa Barbara prosecutor Craig Smith. "But our whole system is based on the premise that it's better to let a guilty man go free than convict an innocent man."

Jackson did not speak to his fans, but his attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr., made one thing clear: He will be far more guarded about whom he lets into his room and will no longer allow people "to come into his life and run freely through his home."

"He's not going to do that anymore because of the false charges that were brought," Mesereau said on NBC's "Today" show.

Outside Neverland, fans' cars lined the narrow road leading to the estate, and pro-Jackson signs indicated the international flavor of a fan base that long ago ceased to be U.S.-centric.

"Iran is here for Michael!" read one posted near the huge gates that opened every few minutes to allow Jackson associates into the heavily guarded compound. "From Italy, Michael We Stand 4U," read another, alongside a sign with Japanese lettering and a message in English: "Make Love Your Weapon."

"We are very happy with the verdict. We have what we want," said Danuta Oslawski, 23, of Germany, dismissing suggestions that some people might still view Jackson with suspicion.

In a news conference and in individual interviews after Jackson was acquitted on all 10 counts, jurors sent a clear message that they were not so much convinced of Jackson's innocence as unconvinced of his guilt, based on faulty evidence and flaky witnesses.

Their views were reminiscent of those expressed by jurors in March after they acquitted actor Robert Blake of murdering his wife, who was shot in the couple's car after they had eaten dinner at a restaurant. Jurors cited credibility problems with key prosecution witnesses - a similar issue to Jackson jurors - and the failure to overcome doubts planted by the defense.

"Do I think he's innocent? I'll never know," said Blake jury foreman Thomas Nicholson.

Jean Rosenbluth, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles who teaches law at the University of Southern California, said that while such comments may be disturbing, they point to "what makes this system great: that you have to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."

And even as Jackson's fans and attorneys lauded the acquittal as a victory, Rosenbluth said the jurors' public explanations of their verdict clearly sent a very different message. "Michael Jackson may have been found not guilty, but the world is certainly going to be left with the impression that he might be a child molester," she said.

None of that mattered to the fans, who said the acquittal, coming on top of prosecutors' failure in 1993 to build a criminal case against Jackson, was all the exoneration they needed.

Ryan Williams, 27, of London, who was flying to Los Angeles when the pilot announced the verdict from the cockpit, pronounced himself "thrilled. Justice prevails."

One person who viewed things differently was former Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Thomas, who was involved in the 1993 molestation investigation that ended when the alleged victim settled out of court with Jackson.

Thomas called it "a shame" that the latest accuser's credibility was tainted by his mother, a prosecution witness whom many jurors said they neither trusted nor liked. "You learn to accept the losses from time to time, but it is perhaps a little more bitter when you know at least in your mind or your heart that the crime was committed," Thomas said.

He also said there was no guarantee Jackson wouldn't be back in court one day. "My sense is, if he doesn't change his habits he'll be back there again someday," Thomas said.

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Not guilty, but is he innocent?

Jury acquitted Jackson on all counts, but left impression that they have their suspicions about him

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