SANTA MARIA, California (CNN) -- A California jury found pop superstar Michael Jackson not guilty Monday of all charges in his child-molestation trial.
The jury deliberated about 32 hours before reaching its decision.
The verdicts were read in a packed courtroom, where a large crowd of supporters gathered outside the courthouse cheered, wept and hugged upon hearing the verdict.
Courtroom observers reported that Jackson dabbed his eyes with a tissue after his acquittal.
I'm glad. I was hoping for a not guilty verdict. Not because I'm a Michael Jackson fan, mind you, because I'm not. I think he's a stupid freak, a weirdo who is (paradoxically) incredibly self-absorbed yet filled with self-loathing.
I wanted a not guilty verdict to stick it to the prosecutors, who all along seemed as if they only pursued this case with such vigor because the defendant was an uber-celebrity, to stick it to the obviously gold-digging grifters who accused him in the first place, and to the media, which turned this whole thing into a giant three-ring bloody circus.
Not Guilty. Good!