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Verdict Brings Relief, Joy
Marcus Moore, left, of Lancaster, Pa., and Bill Vaughan of Charles County check out Michael Jackson CDs.
(By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)
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"Oh my God," she said after the final count.
Across the bar from Ruffin, Bryan Wiggins, 40, shook his head, saying he had mixed feelings.
"I still think he's a little kid in a grown man's body," said Wiggins, who works for a technology company. "I still think some of his views are kind of off."
Even Ruffin, of Upper Marlboro, had some doubt.
"If he's not guilty, God bless him," she said. "If he is guilty, God will deal with him. . . . Americans love Michael Jackson, no matter what color you are."
One group of people smiled, perhaps predictably, when they heard the verdict: defense lawyers in D.C. Superior Court. Two levels beneath the street, word of the verdict passed from U.S. marshals in the courtroom to the arraignment room, where defense lawyers cheered.
"Michael Jackson was very lucky," said Lauckland A. Nicholas. "The state did not do the best job here . . . and the jury was a very good jury -- they were careful not to consider [Jackson's] past, which was the worst thing he had going for him."
Lawyer David Carr said the verdict was a tribute to the U.S. justice system.
The case showed that even a prosecution with "all the resources" couldn't convict someone when a jury "brought their intellect and not their emotions to the courtroom," Carr said.
For Barber, the Jersey City flooring contractor, the music still matters.
"I personally don't care," Barber said of the verdict. "But 'Thriller' is still the best album ever."
Staff writers Fulvio Cativo, Petula Dvorak, Hamil R. Harris and Nelson Hernandez contributed to this report.
