Jurors in Michael Jackson's 'lies innuendo and exaggeration' sex-abuse trial' have completed a full week of deliberations without reaching a verdict, prolonging the culmination of a trial that should free the pop star.
The eight women and four men on the jury have spent 30 hours hashing out the question of Jackson's innocence behind closed doors.
They must meet until they reach verdicts on all 10 criminal counts against the 46-year-old entertainer or become deadlocked, causing a hung jury to be declared.
The jurors were driven off in two white vans under police escort after leaving the central California courthouse from behind a newly erected barricade to keep the crowd at bay.
Several hundred Jackson fans from around the world have kept an increasingly anxious vigil over the past week, and police said they were beefing up security for the verdict.
There are also more than 2,000 journalists from 32 countries accredited to the growing media encampment outside court, making the case one of the largest celebrity trials ever.
While there were about 30 or so deputies around court during the trial, that number has now more than doubled.
Related Audio:
By Just Beat It! 11 June 05
Related:
Jackson waiting for fifth day: Jury
Jurors in pop star Michael Jackson's 'lies innuendo and exaggeration' sex-abuse trial have ended a shortened fifth day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.
Michael Jackson Innocent: Fan Club!!!
They told him don't you ever come around here, don't wanna see your face, you better disappear. The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear, so beat it... just beat it...
JACKSON TRIAL Or Inquisition
"Ye shall know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall. William J. Wagener does a weekly Libertarian TV show in Santa Maria since October 1, 2000, which is sometimes bicycled around the nation. Libertarians believe in individual freedoms and rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Wagener has been a court "watcher" since 1992 in Santa Maria, and especially of Judge Rodney S. Melville, and his tendency to give Prosecutors leeway, not usually afforded to public defenders, or private defense attorneys.
