SANTA MARIA, Calif. - A jury acquitted Michael Jackson on Monday of molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor at his Neverland ranch, vindicating the pop star who insisted he was the victim of mother-and-son con artists and a prosecutor with a vendetta.

Jurors also acquitted him of conspiring to imprison his accuser and the boy's family at the storybook estate — a total legal victory but one that may do little to improve his bizarre image.

The verdict — reached after about 30 hours of deliberations over seven days — ended a star-studded, four-month trial that offered a global audience a lurid look into the weird world of Michael Jackson and presented jurors with vastly different portraits of him: a creepy pervert who preyed on little boys, or the victim of a frame-up by mother-and-son shakedown artists.

Sorry, I tried hard to stay AWAY from this story. A friend/relative put a gun to my head and said REPORT IT!

UNLESS the topic strays into OUR topic type stuff...

KEEP all your Michael Jackson crap in THIS thread ONLY!

(I will be watching!)

Michael is innocent, but 2400 file sharers coughed up an average of $3000 because they weren't rich enough to say "prove it."

If you haven't seen it, iFilm has the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog video from the trial. Funny.

Michael is living proof that a poor black child can grow up to be a rich white guy in America.

Paradoxes Abound.

It's no paradox.

Money is law.

Seriously, though...

In Jackson's case, the problem was most likely the lack of credibility of the accusers, who seemed to try to cash in on every celebrity they came into contact with.

I don't really know what the judge's instructions were or the evidence presented (other than the unavoidable overly enthusiastic newscaster sound bites) because I have paid virtually no attention to this.

I saw the tail end of O.J.'s trial and the judge told the jury that if ANY of the links in the prosecution's chain of events were lacking (like, oh, half of them), they should disregard the entire scenario. If they took the instructions to heart, they had no choice but a "not guilty" verdict.

I wasn't on the jury on this case vs MJ so I don't "know" if he is a pervert or not...

...but most importantly I DON'T CARE!

(If he IS a child molester, the parents were just as much or more-so at fault for letting him "enjoy" the company of those kids in the first place!)

In a court of law you need EVIDENCE and DUE PROCESS!

Raising you own kids, even IF the alegations are really only lies, you only need HALF A BRAIN!

(Don't let your kids have "sleep-overs" with grown men!)

The jury may have acquitted Michael Jackson, but I guarantee none of those jurors would let their children spend the night at Neverland Ranch.

The prosecution is as fault for building its case on a gaggle of witnesses all with axes to grind agains Jackson. The real question should be how much of the taxpayer's money was squandered on this sideshow trial.

JohnCarlton02 is right...that's exactly what i want to know. a mentally ill runaway bride who is under pressure from her wedding decides to get away and has to repay her waste of resources....yet some sound minded district attorney who puts witnesses who admin to lieing on the stand doesn't? Make him or the witnesses repay their debt

The question wasn't really whether he was innocent--we all know he's not--the question was, did the prosecution prove their case? Like most of you, I didn't care enough to follow the case closely, but I agree the witnesses against him were lousy. And, being a mother myself, I have to wonder where that woman's marbles were, letting her son spend time with such an obviously disturbed man. I guess the dollar signs just distorted her vision. But I could see here a good case for removing that child from that environment, unless she seeks counseling for herself and her children. Now, I vote we never mention this sick topic again. Anybody second the motion?

"The real question should be how much of the taxpayer's money was squandered on this sideshow trial."

$4 million.

Shadowmom -- I don't think it'll be a problem. We avoided it up until now, even though it's been the lead entertainment story for months. And it's not like everyone has been asking about it.

I have a problem with the way our legal system works, and with judges who allow things to get carried along too far on peripheral issues.
It seems the motives of plaintiffs are more significant than whether there is enough hard evidence to convict.
Similar to the O.J. debacle ten years ago. Because a D.A. or some other law enforcement figure lied about having used the "N" word, that was allowed to take center stage and be more important to jurors than all the evidence that was available against the accused.
I'd have to grant O.J. a nomination for an academy award for that glove scene, though.

Maybe I'm trying to live in a dream world, one in which first things should come first, where the legal system should do its best to facilitate proper justice being meted out regardless of whether you are rich or famous.
I guess I'm living on the wrong planet for wishing like that.

Someone might say life isn't easy or fair.
They'd be right, but it doesn't minimize the responsibility of those who contribute to it being that way.

Are we so sure that the whole idea to prosecute wasn't funded by Sony in an attempt to force MJ to sell? The music business IS that dirty.

The legal system in this country has always been f***ed up, very bad things happen everyday. M.J. and O.J. used the system they were not the first nor will they be the last to do so. It is done, over, nothing can be changed so move on and let it go. I'm sure another freak show trial will start in 15 mins.

I said it before the verdict and I'll say it again. Guilty or innocent, MJ is sick in the head, and belongs in a mental institution.

"Michael Jackson won...
...but, did he have to give the Beatles recordings away to do so? "

One can dream.

One good thing to come out of this mess is that Michael has sworn to never take young boys to bed again, seeing as it just creates to much controversy...well DUH! Time will tell if he's serious.

SuitablyTwisted -- Especially since he worked for Sony.