Jackson free on bail
2003-11-21 06:53
Santa Barbara - Michael Jackson was freed on bail on Thursday after being booked by police on child abuse charges that he branded as "lies" before immediately flying out of town.
Jackson left Santa Barbara jail in a dark-coloured sports utility vehicle after he posted the required 10% of his bail, set at $3 million, and raced to the airport where his private jet was waiting.
His publicist, Stuart Backerman, declined to reveal where Jackson was headed, but reports said he was headed back to Las Vegas from where he earlier had arrived to surrender.
Jackson was photographed, fingerprinted and made to surrender his passport during the booking process.
Dressed in a black jacket and trousers and white shirt, Jackson flashed a "V" sign to fans screaming his name as he left the sheriff's department through a back door before being whisked away.
Backerman said the charges and the media frenzy surrounding the beleaguered "King of Pop" were "rooted in a lie".
"The big lie against Michael Jackson is anchored in the most vicious allegation imaginable, one that resonates across every culture: the spectacle of harming a child," he said in a statement.
"That spectacle invites outrage, and it should."
He quoted Jackson as saying: "Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons. The truth will win this marathon in court."
"Michael is going to defend himself with the force of his spirit, as would anyone falsely accused of something so monstrous," Backerman said.
Jackson surprised the horde of journalists following his every move when he did not return to his Neverland Ranch, 32 kilometres north of Santa Barbara, as expected.
The sprawling 1 050-hectare ranch, said to be worth more than $12 million and boasts a theme park and petting zoo was the object of a massive police raid on Tuesday when the new allegations against him first became public.