Jackson Fan’s Devotion Leaves Her Pining in Jail

She spends her life waiting and watching for Michael Jackson. She says she has gone to scores of his concerts all over the world. She was in Las Vegas for the Jackson Family Honors concert. Then she went to the Grammys and the Soul Train Awards, hoping in vain to catch a glimpse of him.

Last month she was Downtown in the criminal courts building to support Jackson’s mother as she testified before a grand jury hearing evidence in the molestation allegations against the singer.

Tuesday, Denise Michelle Pfeiffer was back in court, and the underlying question was whether the driving force of her young life had driven her over the edge.

The 24-year-old fan from Leicester, England, was arraigned in Beverly Hills Municipal Court on three misdemeanor counts, all stemming from her alleged hostility toward the father of the 14-year-old boy who accused Jackson of sexually molesting him.

Pfeiffer was charged with spray-painting accusatory graffiti on the sidewalk outside the father’s Beverly Hills dental office, stealing keys to the office restroom and making annoying and threatening phone calls to the father’s office.

She was arrested Thursday when she went to the father’s house. There, prosecutors said, she talked to a male relative, described by prosecutors only as someone other than the boy who lodged the molestation charges. He invited her in, took her passport and called the police. She has been in custody ever since.

“She’s a sweet, sweet girl,” said a 24-year-old British friend, Jackie Scott, who first met Pfeiffer at a Jackson concert at Wembley Stadium in England. Scott, who says she has seen Jackson in concert about 30 times, has been staying in a hostel here with Pfeiffer and came to court to show support.

“She’s not weird. She’d never harm a child,” said Scott, attired in jeans and a black cap as she waited in the hallway outside Judge Elden S. Fox’s courtroom.

“She’s obsessed--not crazy,” added a Swiss friend who has been staying at the hostel with the women and came along to court. “There’s a difference.”

At the courthouse, reporters and photographers sprawled across pew-like wooden benches. Last month, Pfeiffer had waited among the reporters for Jackson’s mother to emerge from a courtroom. She had proudly showed off two snapshots of herself with Jackson--one encased on a key chain, the other attached to her backpack. When she spotted Jackson’s mother, she had called out, “We love you, Mother Jackson. We love you.”

On Tuesday, reporters--and just her two friends--awaited Pfeiffer’s arrival.

“We’ve been reporting every twist and turn in this Michael Jackson story,” said Fiona Phillips, Los Angeles correspondent for the “Good Morning, Britain” television program. Pfeiffer had become the latest twist.

Pfeiffer was escorted into the courtroom by a sheriff’s deputy, her hands handcuffed behind her. With her dark-blond hair and pale skin, she looked younger than her age, slight in the voluminous orange jail garb. She was seated on the side of the courtroom, looking calm but a little sad, staring straight ahead at the judge, then down to the side. She never made eye contact with her friends, who sat in the front row. According to the district attorney’s office, she is listed as a transient.

Last month, Pfeiffer defended Jackson against the molestation allegations.

“Children are his life. He loves little children,” Pfeiffer, a fan since she was 12, had said passionately.

Now, she was defending herself. She entered a plea of not guilty.

She once estimated that it cost her $10,000 to travel from concert to concert during Jackson’s Dangerous Tour, money she amassed by working odd jobs and hoarding every penny. Now, it is unclear if she will be able to make her $15,000 bail.

“It’s pretty high bail,” said her court-appointed attorney, Brenda Miller.

Outside the courtroom, Miller was besieged by press and cameras, much to her dismay. “I don’t want to discuss the case. She’s fine. She’s just scared.”

“But she’s coping?” said TV reporter Phillips.

“She’s coping,” said Miller.

“What’s the situation like in American jails?” asked Neal Harrison, producer for “Good Morning, Britain.”

“I don’t know--fortunately I’ve never had the experience of being in a jail, but I’m sure she’ll be well cared for,” said Miller.

The photographers followed Miller to the elevator as Pfeiffer’s friends trailed after. Miller went down in the elevator, the friends talking to her in hushed tones. Pfeiffer was returned to jail.