SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson's lawyer said Tuesday he is convinced that the pop star "has never molested any child," but the singer will no longer let children sleep in his room.
"He's not going to do that because it makes him vulnerable to false charges," attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. told The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview the morning after Jackson won complete acquittal on all charges in his child molestation trial.
Jackson's Web site ranked the acquittal alongside the birth of Martin Luther King Jr. and the release of Nelson Mandela, but the verdict didn't end speculation about his relationships with boys.
At least four of the jurors who acquitted him said afterward that they suspect the pop star has molested boys, but not necessarily the one who accused him in court.
"I am absolutely convinced that he has never molested any child," said Mesereau, who added that he believes Jackson will continue to be "a convenient target for people who want to extract money or build careers at his expense."
Mesereau and his colleague, Susan Yu, spoke to the AP by telephone as Jackson remained out of sight after being found not guilty on charges he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at his Neverland ranch.
Both attorneys described Jackson as the most vulnerable person they have ever met. They said he is physically depleted from the four-month trial and needs rest before venturing back into the public.
Mesereau said he has been baffled by the public's willingness to believe unfounded charges against Jackson.
"It doesn't make sense to me. He's unquestionably one of the finest human beings I've ever been privileged to know," said Mesereau. "He is very generous and caring about everyone in his life and he was very easy to work with."
Because of public perceptions, he said, Jackson will have to change his lifestyle.
"He's going to have to not let people easily enter his life," he said. "He was very generous to people who didn't deserve it."
Asked about Jackson's practice of having children sleep in his bed, Mesereau said it had not been just children.
"He allowed whole families to sleep in his room," the attorney said.
Prosecutors were allowed to support the allegations that Jackson abused the 13-year-old in 2003 by bringing in testimony of alleged previous molestation or inappropriate behavior with boys even though those purported incidents never led to criminal charges.
Some jurors indicated they were inclined to believe Jackson had such a past, but that it did not prove the allegations that were actually charged in the singer's indictment.
"He's just not guilty of the crimes he's been charged with," said Ray Hultman, who told the AP he was one of three people on the 12-member jury who voted to acquit after the others persuaded them there was reasonable doubt. "He probably has molested boys at some point."
Hultman, 62, said his vote to acquit "doesn't change my feelings that he probably has molested boys at some point."
Three other jurors who appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" raised their hands when asked if they thought Jackson may have molested other children but not the 2003 accuser.
"We had our suspicions, but we couldn't judge on that because it wasn't what we were there to do," Eleanor Cook, 79, said on the show.
Jackson, who appeared to grow steadily weaker as the trial ground on, looked frail as he left court Monday and his father, Joe, said later he went to bed after returning to Neverland.
The Jackson Web site mjjsource.com, however, was triumphant and flashed images of the pop star looking vigorous.
"Innocent," the site declared, flashing dates and the phrases "Martin Luther King is born," "The Berlin Wall falls," "Nelson Mandela is freed," and finally, "June 13, 2005, Remember this date for it is a part of HIStory" ? a reference to Jackson's 1995 album "HIStory."
Yu, who sat next to Jackson in court and spoke to him more than anyone, said the trial was a painful ordeal for him especially because he "has been living in virtual isolation all his life."
"People don't know who Michael Jackson is," she said. "I spent a lot of time with him. I've never seen anybody so vulnerable. This person is totally incapable of doing any of the things they said he did."
Mesereau and Yu said they have not discussed Jackson's future with him. They said he is physically depleted and needs time to heal from the ordeal.
Mesereau revealed that he was first contacted by Jackson's family when authorities raided Neverland in late 2003, although he didn't take over the case until months later.
"I think we were on the attack from the opening bell," he said. "My strategy was to never let up
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