Jackson leaves Neverland for court
Michael Jackson has left Neverland for the Santa Maria Court to hear the jury's verdict in his child abuse trial.
The eight women and four men reached their verdict after more than 31 hours of deliberations on 10 counts which could send the singer to jail for almost 20 years.
The verdicts will be announced at Santa Maria Court, California, at 9.30pm Irish Time.
The announcement came shortly after Judge Rodney S Melville issued a statement saying that the jury asked and withdrew a question this morning.
He also confirmed that on Friday the jury had a read-back of testimony and there were four meetings in chambers with attorneys. News organisations had filed motions seeking information on such developments.
Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor in 2003, plying him with wine and conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive to get them to rebut a damaging television documentary.
In the British-made documentary, “Living With Michael Jackson,” Jackson held hands with the boy and told interviewer Martin Bashir he let children into his bed – but it was innocent and non-sexual.
Jackson, who climbed to fame with the Jackson 5 and dominated pop music in the 1980s with the powerhouse ”Thriller” and other albums, was portrayed at trial as a paedophile who lured boys into his bed at his fairytale Neverland ranch. The defence called the accuser and his family con artists.
Jackson, whose global stardom was apparent in the turnout of fans and news media for his trial, once flooded airwaves with such hits as “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin.”’
He captivated fans with his ”moonwalking” and electric dance moves, and created a signature image by wearing one sequinned glove.
But his career began to lose its lustre after 1993 allegations of child molestation that ended with a multimillion-dollar civil settlement paid to a boy, and his lifestyle, two marriages and drastic changes in appearance became fodder for “Wacko Jacko” tabloid headlines.
