BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Music | Jackson's jury explains decision

Speaking at Santa Barbara Superior Court, California, after a court gag order was lifted, the jurors - aged between 20 and 79 - were identified only by numbers.

They said they treated singer Michael Jackson as they would any other defendant during more than 30 hours of deliberations.

"One of the first things we decided was that we had to look at him like any other individual, not as a celebrity," said the jury foreman.

"And once we got that established, we could go beyond that and we were able to deal with it just as fairly as we could with anybody else."

Oh, sure. I believe unequivocally no one thought of Michael Jackson as a celebrity as they were deciding on a verdict. And I also know for a fact if pigs had wings, they could fly.