Jackson fans drift away from Neverland
Michael Jackson’s fans and the media throng have mostly abandoned their vigil outside the Neverland Ranch in California, leaving the singer inside to recover from his bruising trial and the world outside awaiting his next move.
By late last night only 20 to 30 hardcore Jackson fans remained outside Neverland. Of the dozen or more television trucks that had once lined the walls outside Jackson’s estate, only two remained.
Jackson, meanwhile, was laying low, presumably inside Neverland. “He has to spend some time healing,” said lawyer Thomas Mesereau, who headed the defence team that convinced jurors Jackson was not guilty of child molestation.
The entertainer hasn’t been seen in public since returning home immediately after jurors acquitted him on Monday afternoon. He looked exhausted as he shuffled slowly out of court, giving a tentative wave to fans.
“People don’t know who Michael Jackson is,” said defence lawyer Susan Yu. “I spent a lot of time with him. I’ve never seen anybody so vulnerable. This person is totally incapable of doing any of the things they said he did.”
While he kept a low profile, postings to his official website were triumphant in celebrating his acquittal.
The entertainer’s concert and recording career had seemed to be sagging even before his arrest, and there has been much speculation as to whether he’ll ever be able to regain the stature that saw him widely regarded as the King of Pop in the 1980s.
Both Mesereau and Yu said they had not discussed Jackson’s future with him, adding he needed to recover his strength before considering returning to work. During the trial, Jackson received hospital treatment several times for an aching back.
Despite the acquittal, at least three jurors later said they suspected the pop star has molested some boys, but not the one who accused him in court. Because of the public perceptions, Mesereau said Jackson will have to change his lifestyle.
“He’s going to have to not let people easily enter his life,” Mesereau said. “He was very generous to people who didn’t deserve it.”
As for letting children sleep in his bed, Jackson is “not going to do that because it makes him vulnerable to false charges”, Mesereau said.
As for Jackson’s accusers, the verdict comes at a relatively stable time in their rocky lives. The mother Janet Arvizo has married an Army major, and the family says abuse by the children’s biological father is behind them.
Accuser Gavin Arvizo, once frail, is now a high-school football player. But one thing he no longer remains is an aspiring actor. He said on the stand that his new career goal was to work in law enforcement.
With the trial over, the tents outside the Santa Maria courthouse were being taken down. Also gone were the sheriff’s deputies and police officers who stood sentry, as well as the barricades that limited courthouse access.
“The goal right now is to try to restore the place to the condition we found it in when we first arrived,” said Peter Shaplen, media co-ordinator for the thousands of journalists. “It’s a tough deal when you had 2,200 people here.”
Carmen Jenkins, 46, said a surge in sales at her Coffee Diem store near the courthouse would help her buy a new BMW. The coffee shop, popular with journalists for its caffeine, food and wireless internet connection, had only a few patrons the day after the verdict.
A chalkboard sign on the storefront yesterday politely announced: “Dear media, we will miss you very much. Thank you for everything.”
Lee Naumcheff, 65, a real-estate broker, said she was proud of the way her city of 88,000 residents weathered the media onslaught and also glad the local jury found Jackson not guilty on all counts.
“It told a lot about the good people of Santa Maria,” she said. “They’re good, fair and intelligent people and they recognised the scam when they saw it.”
