Jackson's lawyer: Jury did a good job

But Mesereau says media tried to ‘spin their way to a verdict’

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updated 6:52 p.m. ET Aug. 8, 2005

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - Subject: the Michael Jackson trial. From: Tom Mesereau, defense attorney. Conclusions: The media did a lousy job and the jury did a good job.

That’s how Michael Jackson’s attorney sees things now that nearly two months have passed since the singer was acquitted of child molestation charges.

“I truly believe the media thought they could spin their way to a verdict,” Tom Mesereau told more than 350 people at the South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association’s annual conference Saturday.

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“We lost the battle of spin, but we won the battle in the courtroom.”

Mesereau criticized cable news networks, saying they are often ill-informed and wrong in their assumptions. He singled out Court TV, which he said hit the “bottom of the barrel” in terms of its credibility.

Mesereau, who refused to speak publicly during the trial because of a gag order, said he wrote the network president a letter demanding that Court TV staff members stop bothering his defense team.

Despite the media circus, he said jurors made the right decision: “Our juries are stronger than the media,” he said. “That is why the media is wrong so often in high-profile trials.”