Jackson jury ends fifth day of deliberation

SANTA MARIA, California - Jurors in Michael Jackson's sex-abuse trial ended a shortened fifth day of deliberations without reaching a verdict, hours after the US singer returned home from his latest trip to the hospital.

The eight women and four men on the jury, who have spent some 23 hours considering the charges against Jackson, put in a short working day of about 2-1/2 hours because at least one had to attend school graduation ceremonies.

Jackson spokeswoman Raymone Bain said in a written statement that the 46-year-old entertainer went to Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital minutes from his Neverland estate for "routine treatment" of back spasms that have pained him throughout the four-month trial.

Jackson, awaiting a verdict that could clear him of child molestation charges or send him to prison for nearly 20 years, has made five visits to the hospital in the course of his trial and two since jurors began deliberating.

The jury must deliberate until it reaches verdicts on all 10 criminal counts against Jackson or becomes deadlocked and is declared a hung jury by Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville.

Since jury deliberations began, little news has come from inside the courthouse, aside from published reports that jurors have chosen as their foreman a retired 63-year-old Santa Maria man who makes bronze castings of Western art in his spare time.

The jury sent a note sent on Monday to Melville, which was sealed by the judge over the objections of news organisations.

Jackson is charged with molesting a boy, then 13, at his Neverland Valley Ranch in California 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.

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

The four-month court fight has left many of Jackson's fans camped outside court nursing a grudge against the media for what they see as unfair coverage of the superstar.

"Everybody should kind of calm down," Bain said. "I'm just appealing for everybody to have a level head. We are in the middle of a trial. This is not a circus. This is not a game. This is not a concert. A man's life is in the balance here."

Fans said they remain confident that Jackson would be cleared and were tired of waiting in the hot California sun for a verdict they believe is long overdue.

"I'm not worried, I just want this to be over. It must be a nightmare for Michael," said Sara Arnejo, a longtime Jackson fan who traveled from Spain for the trial in February and plans to remain until it ends.

- REUTERS