The final court session explained — Michael is a free man

On Monday, as Michael walked into the Santa Maria courtroom amid a mountain of distress, anxiety, and shock, he knew he was experiencing one of the hardest days of his life. Seated among his attorneys and holding the hand of his lawyer Thomas Mesero, after hearing his acquittal verdict on the ten charges for the tenth time, his tears were wiped away calmly, and he embraced his senior attorney Thomas Mesero.

Susan Yu, another defense attorney and Michael’s mother, as well as several women jurors, also began to cry.

In the meantime, Thomas Sneddon—the lead prosecutor in this case—had the clearest reaction to the verdict that had been read. He sat back in his chair, holding his head in both hands, lost in thought. Michael’s face as he left the courtroom had already lost the only expression of anxiety he had shown at the moment of his arrival, and he still looked stunned, as if he still couldn’t believe his release from this nightmare. Michael passed through the line of reporters without making any comment. After a brief wave and sending kisses toward the massive crowd of several hundred fans in the courthouse grounds, along with other family members, he got into the car and returned to Norland—his home.

The defense team, who had gone to the grounds to see him off, returned to the courtroom hall to handle some administrative matters. When Thomas Mesero entered the hall again, he said:

“Justice was served. This man is innocent. He has always been innocent.”

Michael’s arrival at Norland, like all his arrivals, was accompanied by fans’ cheers. The huge crowd of fans running after his car disappeared from view behind Norland’s closed gates.

Thomas Sneddon, whose efforts that day to prove the false accusations against Michael Jackson had failed, said in a press conference outside the courtroom:

“We do not choose the victims and their families. We do our job. I do not intend to apologize for everything I have done.”

A crowd of several hundred fans in the courthouse’s outdoor area created an intensely impactful atmosphere. They jumped up and down with clenched fists, hugged one another, and threw colorful papers into the air. After each time Michael’s acquittal verdict was announced, one of the fans would take out one of the ten white doves he had kept trapped in a large cage and release them into the sky.