SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) – The Michael Jackson circus came to town Friday as the pop star showed up in court 21 minutes late to plead innocent to child molesting, got a scolding from the judge, and then danced on top his SUV in front of a cheering crowd.
Later, he invited fans back to his Neverland Ranch for refreshments.
Jackson’s antics marked a bizarre start to a criminal case that could send the 45-year-old singer to prison for decades.
“Mr. Jackson, you have started out on the wrong foot here,” Judge Rodney Melville said after the singer was tardy for his first court appearance in the case. “I want to advise you that I will not put up with that. It’s an insult to the court.”
The hearing began with Jackson pleading not guilty to seven counts of molesting a child under 14 and two counts of giving the child an “intoxicating agent,” reportedly wine. Jackson spoke softly but firmly as he entered his plea, and stared straight ahead and showed no emotion while the judge took up various legal motions.
The hearing ended in less than two hours while Jackson was on a restroom break. The judge, irritated, remarked that Jackson’s exit had caused a disruption.
About 1,500 people, including fans and media from around the world, swarmed outside the courthouse in a scene reminiscent of a concert.
Vendors sold T-shirts, steaks and hot dogs. Many fans had come to the courthouse in chartered buses and cars in a “Caravan of Love” from Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Wearing a black coat, black pants with white stripes, a white armband, glittery shoes and big sunglasses, Jackson shook hands with fans and waved as he made his way through the crowd and into the courthouse.
Jackson removed his sunglasses during the hearing and was surrounded by several family members, including his parents, brother Jermaine and sister Janet.
In contrast to his serious demeanor in the courtroom, Jackson was ebullient as he left the building amid a sea of cameras and fans carrying signs pronouncing his innocence and declaring, “We love you Michael.”
Some fans brought their children, and others dressed in costumes inspired by Jackson’s music videos. One man wore what appeared to be a makeshift suit of armor.
“There’s strength in numbers,” said Amber McCrary, 26, who boarded a bus in a Los Angeles Kmart parking lot with her two children before dawn for the 150-mile trip to Santa Maria.
Jackson got atop the sport utility vehicle that brought him to court, briefly abandoning the umbrella he carries to shield his face, waved to the fans and did a few dance steps. Music played and a video cameraman standing alongside recorded the scene.
As Jackson tried to leave town, fans swarmed his vehicle, reaching through windows as guards and police ran alongside, sometimes shoving people back to clear the path.
“This was spontaneous love,” said attorney Benjamin Brafman, a new member of Jackson’s legal team. “This was not planned. I’m in the proceeding and I’m stunned.”
Jackson was soon back at Neverland, about 25 miles away, where fans flocked after receiving invitations to a party. The invitations were distributed by supporters who appeared to be members of the Nation of Islam.
“In the spirit of love and togetherness, Michael Jackson would like to invite his fans and supporters to his Neverland Ranch. Please join us Friday, Jan. 16, 2004, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Refreshments will be served. We’ll see you there,” the invitation said.
Traffic jammed for miles on the rural road leading to the estate, but fans waited patiently in the bumper-to-bumper column. At least 1,000 people, many of them families with little children, came to the estate’s amusement park to go on rides. Ice cream, popcorn and drinks were provided. Jackson’s family gathered in the house for a luncheon.
The judge scheduled a Feb. 13 session to set the date for a preliminary hearing, which will determine whether there is enough evidence to hold Jackson for trial.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon pointedly asked, “Judge will that be 8:30?” clearly referring to Jackson’s tardiness. The judge responded, “8:30.”
The judge also imposed a gag order on all participants but said he would consider proposals to allow either side to answer reporters’ questions about rumors surrounding the case.
Jackson walked through the crowd distributing invitations to a get-together at Neverland ranch, about 25 miles away. The invitations read: “In the sprit of love and togetherness, Michael Jackson would like to invite his fans and supporters to his Neverland Ranch. Please join us Friday, Jan. 16, 2004, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Refreshments will be served. We’ll see you there.”
Hundreds of fans bused in from Los Angeles and Las Vegas had converged on the courthouse, singing as they waited for him to arrive and waving signs reading “Stay Strong Michael” and “We Believe In Michael Jackson. Leave Him Alone.”
“He stands for so much, all the goodness in the world and innocence,” said Melanie Dowland, 28, said she traveled all the way from London to support Jackson.
Jackson, 45, was charged with seven counts of lewd acts with a child under 14 and two counts of giving the child an “intoxicating agent,” reportedly wine, between Feb. 7 and March 10, 2003.
Authorities did not identify the alleged victim, but sources close to those involved have said he is a cancer patient who appeared in a documentary broadcast in February that showed Jackson talking about sleepovers with children at Neverland.
Jackson defended the sleepovers in a recent interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
“People think sex,” Jackson said. “They’re thinking sex. My mind doesn’t run that way. When I see children, I see the face of God. That’s why I love them so much.”
The documentary, “Living With Michael Jackson,” raised anew questions about the sleepovers that had lingered since molestation allegations against Jackson were investigated in 1993. No charges were filed in that case, but Jackson reportedly paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to a boy’s family.
Jackson said in the documentary that his practice of allowing children to sleep in his bed was non-sexual.
The singer was introduced to the alleged victim by Jamie Masada, a comedy club owner who runs a children’s camp. Masada said the boy, hospitalized with cancer, wanted to meet Jackson, and Jackson obliged, forming a relationship with the boy and his mother.
Sources close to Jackson’s defense have alleged that relationship soured when the mother demanded a fee for her son’s appearance in the documentary and Jackson refused. But those close to the mother claim there was no demand, rather that Jackson began acting strangely and barred them from Neverland.
The mother later went to the same attorney involved in the 1993 allegations against Jackson and told him she thought her son had been molested by the pop star, sources have said. The lawyer advised her to have the boy see a psychologist, who went to authorities under a legal requirement to report any claims of child molestation, sources said.
Separately, the documentary prompted a school administrator to complain to a hot line, triggering a February probe of Jackson’s relationship with the boy by Los Angeles County child welfare officials. A leaked memo said the boy, his siblings and mother told those officials nothing inappropriate occurred. Santa Barbara County’s top prosecutor dismissed that probe as “interviews, not an investigation.”
AP-ES-01-16-04 1420EST
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