Jackson verdict: 'No winners'
2005-06-14 10:41
Los Angeles - Michael Jackson's fans celebrated a stunning court victory on Monday and his lawyers declared that justice had been done, but top advisors said Jackson also has a lot to think about now.
Hundreds of fans erupted into ecstatic screams of joy after their hero was acquitted on 10 charges against him, including child molestation, that could have seen him face a long jail term.
Robbin Locksley, a 44-year-old who was outside the court, cried and hugged people around her after the not guilty verdicts were broadcast to the crowd.
"I am so excited, people are always trying to destroy Michael Jackson, let that man live his life," she said echoing the sentiments of many banner-waving fans of the singer who followed the case in the Californian town of Santa Maria.
Jackson made no immediate comment but a defence attorney, Debra Opri, said the whole family was "very happy and very relieved".
Much pain
Even Jackson's estranged ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, said she was "overjoyed" at his acquittal.
A former nurse, Rowe was married to the singer from 1996 to 1999 and bore him a son and a daughter, Prince Michael and Paris. She was called as a star prosecution witness, but confounded expectations by praising the singer as a "great father" and a generous man surrounded by "vultures".
"Justice is done, the man's innocent. He always was," flamboyant lead defence attorney Thomas Meserau declared in a statement on Jackson's official internet site.
Tom Sneddon, the prosecutor who has pursued Jackson for the past decade, insisted he had no regrets about bringing the case. "We have acted professionally in this. I'm not going to look back and apologise on anything we've done," he said.
Some rights activists criticised the way Jackson was charged and proceedings were handled however.
"Children have been dragged into court, Michael's reputation has been damaged severely," Reverend Al Sharpton, a renowned civil rights activist, told CNN television. And he warned that even Jackson has little to celebrate now.
"I think that there are no winners here. I don't think there's a reason for Michael or those opposed to Michael to gloat. There's a lot of pain, a lot of hurt here," Sharpton went on.
"I don't think any of us that went on the line saying that Michael deserved the same right as any citizen are celebrating tonight," Sharpton said.
Another civil rights leader, Jesse Jackson, who has acted as a spiritual advisor to the singer, said that Jackson must learn from his legal troubles.
Jesse Jackson said the pop star called him in the morning before his acquittal on child sex abuse charges and that the two prayed together.
"The healing process must begin and ... Michael must assess the impact of the very impropriety of these problems that got him in this trouble. We hope that all those involved now will learn lessons."
- AFP