The not guilty decision was truly stunning considering the charges the defendant faced. The jury of eight women and four men deliberated seven days before acquitting the entertainer of ten felony counts, ranging from child molestation to child abduction to extortion, to four for administering alcohol, to aid in the commission for a felony. Jackson could have been jailed for at least 18 years.

I must admit that I'm not much of a Michael Jackson fan. I never did take to heart young Michael as a member of the Jackson 5, and I didn't care much for the body of work he generated via his solo career, although I did think his mega album, Thriller, was exceptional. Watching his weird physical transformation over the years and learning about the fantasy world that he built for himself at Neverland and his special young guests, I could understand the label "Wacko Jacko" that detractors attached to his persona.

Jackson seemed to almost flaunt his weirdness. After all, how any defendants go to trial in pajama bottoms protected by an umbrella on one sunny day after another? He could get on television all he wanted to explain how beautiful was the experience of sharing his bed with children who were not his own, and I would still say that such behaviour was abnormal for a middle-aged man. Such behaviour, moreover, made it easy for many people to conclude that Jackson was a pedophile.

But, putting aside my personal feelings and having followed the trial closely on television, I had to agree with the jury that Jackson was not guilty as charged. Like many of the jurors, I felt Jackson may have been guilty of something in his past that resembled pedophilia, but their task was to determine his guilt based on evidence presented at the trial. Further, if they did find Jackson guilty, they had to do it beyond a reasonable doubt.

Deciding guilt or innocence was not an easy task for jurors. Indeed, the judge's instructions were complicated, even confusing, and consisted of 98 pages of legalese. Some legal experts said the jurors faced a task that could confuse even people familiar with the law. "Jurors are locked in the jury room without a lawyer, and they are expected to master one of the most complicated areas of the lawconspiracy," Jim Hammer, a legal analyst for Fox News told the Associated Press.

The news agency gave this example of how confusing the judge's instructions were. "You are requested to unanimously agree as to (sic) who committed an overt act or which overt act was committed, so long a each of you finds beyond a reasonable doubt that one of the conspirators committed one of the acts alleged in the indictment to be overt acts." Got that?

Yet, I felt it to be a proud day for America and its judicial system when the jurors reached their verdict, although many Americansthe strong majority of them whitedidn't agree with it. African Americans, on the other hand, were generally jubilant over Jackson's acquittal. Julia Hare, a San Francisco psychologist, explained to the media why: "We have a double standard in this country," Hare said. "That's why so many blacks cheered this case on. They do not condone molestation. It's not even about Michael Jackson. It's about the injustices in the history of this country."

In the intense interest surrounding the trial, plenty of media sources were willing to fuel doubts about Jackson's innocence. Before the verdict was in, one New York Times headline erroneously concluded; "The makeup of the Jackson jury seems to favour prosecution." One Associated Press report had the "guilty" entertainer going to "a prison located 100 miles northeast of the gated estate where the prosecutors charge Jackson molested the 13-year old boy."

Media interviews with jurors after the trial confirmed what I suspected. The prosecutions big mistake was making the mother of the alleged 13-year old victim the key witness. To the jurors, she looked like a fortune hunter who liked to make things up. She claimed there was a conspiracy to hold her hostage at Neverland, but the jury didn't buy it.

In testifying, the mother was simply caught in too many lies. As one juror put it: "Her story seemed far fetched and paranoid -- all kinds of crazy stuff."

Now that the trial us over, Jackson's lawyer has assured the public that his client will quit his "crazy" stuffnamely, sleeping with young children. That remains to be seen, however, for if Jackson is truly a pedophile, psychologists tell us the chances are he will get into trouble again. Jackson will also have to re-invent himself and find a way to save his financial empire. He has not yet arranged the obligatory one hour interview on prime time America televisionthat's the interview that hooks the American public's sympathy and gets the fallen celebrity on the road back to redemption.

Right now, Jackson reportedly has so little money that he is unable to meet monthly loan payments. As a sign of Jacko's dire circumstances, his staff is reportedly worried that he might not be able to pay his electricity bill. Perilous times, indeed, for the entertainer who not long ago was one of the world's richest and most popular.

Yet rest assuredthe world community will remain fascinated with the saga of the former King of Pop as he struggles to make his comeback. Many of us will be rooting for him; many others will not.

Ron Chepesiuk is a visiting professor of journalism at Chittagong University and a research associate with the National Defence College in Dhaka.