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Trial taking a toll on King of Pop
King of Pop wearing down
By SCOTT HADLY
NEWS-PRESS SENIOR WRITER
Michael Jackson, an entertainer known for his buoyant, elegant energy, moved stiffly and somberly out of the county courthouse in Santa Maria on Friday, marking the end of one ordeal and the beginning of another.
The stress of enduring 16 weeks of the see-saw drama in his child molestation trial has been replaced by the agony of waiting for 12 jurors to deliver their decision on his fate. His attorney, Thomas Mesereau, brought home for jurors just what was at stake for Mr. Jackson -- his reputation, his family and his freedom -- and the weight of what hangs in the balance may be taking its toll.
"He's not falling apart," said Raymone Baine, Mr. Jackson's spokeswoman, just after the 46-year-old entertainer walked out of the courthouse, holding onto his mother Katherine's arm and flanked by his attorneys, his bodyguards, sisters Janet and LaToya and brothers Jermaine, Tito and Randy. Under his shirt is a backbrace, making his movements even more restricted.
Mr. Jackson had been nervous as anyone would be, Ms. Baine said, but he thinks his defense attorney did a good job.
"He's relieved it's over," she said. "It's a very delicate situation to sit in there and see all this and know your life is in the balance."
But for many who have seen him over the course of the trial as far back as his arraignment more than a year ago, when he triumphantly jumped on top of his black SUV and did a few impromtu dance moves for the crowd, the trial has transformed Mr. Jackson and he doesn't look well.
Kenny Wizz of Las Vegas makes a special appearance.
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Already a wisp of a man, the pop star has lost weight. On Thursday night, comedian Dick Gregory told Mr. Jackson he didn't look well, and the star was taken to Santa Ynez Cottage Hospital to be treated for dehydration.
His physical health has twice before been an issue in the flow of the case, once when jury selection was delayed after he was hospitalized for the flu, and the second time when a fall in the shower sent him to the emergency room with a back injury, delaying his arrival to court and resulting in a threat of jail from the judge.
J. Randy Taraborrelli, a biographer of celebrities who wrote "Michael Jackson: The Music and the Madness" and has followed the case in Santa Maria, said it is clear the case has been an ordeal for the singer.
"Physically, it's so obvious," Mr. Taraborrelli said.
Earlier in the case, Mr. Jackson would arrive in the court room and limber up and stretch in the corner, loosening up his dancer's body for sitting through the day's testimony.
"Look at him now and it's hard to imagine that he could physically do that now," said Mr. Taraborrelli, who first wrote about Mr. Jackson in the 1970s. "I've never seen him this unwell."
e-mail: shadly@newspress.come-mail: shadly@newspress.com
THE CHARGES
Michael Jackson faces the following 10 counts:
1. Conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment, extortion
2. Lewd act upon a child
3. Lewd act upon a child
4. Lewd act upon a child
5. Lewd act upon a child
6. Attempt to commit lewd act upon a child
7. Administering intoxicating agent to assist in commission of a felony
8. Administering intoxicating agent to assist in commission of a felony
9. Administering intoxicating agent to assist in commission of a felony
10. Administering intoxicating agent to assist in commission of a felony
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