Michael Jackson pleaded innocent to child molestation charges on Friday during a hearing in which a California judge gave the onetime "King of Pop" a stern warning for showing up late and slapped a gag order on his newly assembled high-profile legal team.
But Jackson apparently left the courtroom in a good mood and showed it by climbing onto the roof of a black sports utility vehicle, where he waved, blew kisses and shuffled through a few dance steps for the benefit of several hundred cheering fans gathered outside.
PHOTO: AFP
Jackson's impromptu performance triggered a brief frenzy among the crowd, which included many people who had traveled long distances or waited days to catch a glimpse of him, offer moral support or wave signs proclaiming his innocence.
Benjamin Brafman, a top New York criminal defense attorney and the latest to join Jackson's team, said the 45-year-old pop star's antics should not be seen as disrespectful to the judge.
"He is an entertainer and there is no rule book on how he can perform. He is not a professional defendant," he said.
The entertainer's bodyguards passed out invitations to a party "in the spirit of love and togetherness" at his Neverland Valley Ranch in the hills above Santa Barbara, about 50km away. Prosecutors charge that Jackson sexually abused a young boy at Neverland after plying him with alcohol.
Jackson is charged with seven counts of committing lewd acts on a boy under the age of 14 and two counts of giving him an "intoxicant."
The boy, who has accused Jackson of molesting him, was not in court although he would be expected to testify at trial. Jackson could face nearly 20 years in prison if convicted.
Wearing a blue suit with a crest on the lapel, a white silk armband and dark black sunglasses, Jackson arrived 20 minutes late for the hearing as he made his way through a sea of hundreds of singing, chanting fans and a forest of TV cameras.
Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville was not amused.
"Mr. Jackson, you have started out on the wrong foot with me," Melville said.
"The court was set to start at 8:30. You were late. I want to advise you I will not put up with that. You must be here on time. Do you understand me?" he said.
Jackson said that he understood and mumbled an apology. His lead attorney, Mark Geragos, also apologized to Melville before Jackson entered his plea of not guilty to the nine charges.
Melville then ordered the singer to return on Feb. 13 for a hearing that will determine when and how the case should proceed. He refused to consider another date even after Geragos said that he expected to be busy on that day and jokingly noted that it was Friday the 13th.
"I'm sure you're not superstitious, Mr. Geragos," the judge said.
Melville rejected requests by the news media to gain access to search warrants in the case that have been sealed since since the November raids on Neverland and other locations.
The judge granted a request by Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom Sneddon for a gag order. But after listening to arguments from Geragos, Melville said he would consider modifying that order to allow lawyers to respond when confronted with false reports.
Legal experts have predicted that Jackson's defense team will probably now start a blizzard of court filings aimed at gutting the prosecution's case and the credibility of the lone witness to the alleged abuse, a 14-year-old boy with cancer.
Michael Proctor, a former public defender, said he expects to see the defense challenge the prosecutors' handling of the investigation and the evidence, and perhaps try to change where the case is tried and by whom.
Geragos and Brafman may also privately take Jackson to task for his behavior in court, nixing future public displays of defiance and possibly distancing him from the Nation of Islam bodyguards who accompanied him to court, Proctor said.
"Everything the defense team is doing ought to be focused on creating a wholesome image of Michael Jackson," he said.
"That's just another added layer of controversy that he doesn't need," he said.
Child abuse expert John Myers said that because Jackson's case presents no legal precedents, he expects the defense team to focus on the entertainer's accuser and his family.
"In most circumstances the child is the only eyewitness and ... there is no medical evidence and the child has been inconsistent over time," said Myers, a leading authority on child abuse litigation at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento.
"It's perfectly legitimate for the defense attorney to go after that," he said.
But Myers said the odds are slim that Jackson will escape conviction if the case goes to trial.
"Most [of these] cases that go to trial end in conviction," he said.
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