Jackson jury deliberates for third day

The jury in Michael Jackson's sex-abuse trial deliberated yesterday for the third full day as a small army of fans waited anxiously outside court and an advisor to the pop star pleaded for calm.

The eight women and four men, who were handed the case by Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville last week, had spent about 14 hours deliberating as of Tuesday without reaching a verdict. They asked only one question, which the judge did not make public.

The jurors - who deliberate six hours a day with three short breaks and no lunch recess - are seen only when they arrive and depart. They are shuttled in two white vans and escorted by sheriff's deputies.

Melville has kept tight control over the proceedings, imposing a gag order on all parties, holding hearings in his chambers and sealing key documents.

In the absence of news from the jury, a weary anticipation has settled over the impromptu encampment of several hundred Jackson fans from around the world who are awaiting a verdict.

"His life depends on 12 guys and they're taking too long," said Marcos Cabota, who had travelled from Spain to be in California for the culmination of the four-month trial.

Jackson, 46, was waiting at his Neverland Valley Ranch, where he was joined by sisters LaToya and Janet. Civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson, who has counseled Jackson through the trial and emerged as his spokesman during the jury deliberations, urged fans to remain calm - even if the jury convicts Jackson.

"If the negative were to be the conclusion, any act of violence would do a disservice to the process," said Jesse Jackson speaking outside court. "It would not be condoned by Michael Jackson."

The plea for calm followed some tense exchanges between fans and reporters outside court and a near mob scene on Monday when Michael Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, unexpectedly turned up and walked through the crowd of supporters.

Michael Jackson has not been seen in public since he spent five hours at a local hospital on Sunday for treatment of what his spokeswoman said was back pain.

Jackson is charged with molesting a boy, then 13, at Neverland in February or March of 2003, plying the young cancer patient with alcohol in order to abuse him and conspiring to commit child abduction, extortion and false imprisonment.

The moonwalking entertainer, who has pleaded innocent, faces nearly 20 years in prison if convicted on all 10 counts.

Prosecutors argued that Jackson was a serial paedophile who lured a string of young boys to Neverland with his fame and Peter Pan persona.

Defense lawyers claim he was the victim of a family of con artists, led by a greedy mother who goaded her son into making up the molestation accusations in anticipation of a lucrative civil lawsuit.