Still No Verdict but Plenty of Tension at Jackson Trial

Jurors in the Michael Jackson child-molestation trial ended their sixth day of deliberations Friday without reaching a verdict.

Tensions between a group of Jackson fans outside the courthouse and about 2,100 journalists awaiting a verdict continued to run high.

An 18-year-old fan named B.J. Hickman held a news conference on the courthouse lawn to deny that he had threatened Court TV reporter Diane Dimond.

Dimond, often heckled by fans because of her perceived pro-prosecution leanings, was granted a temporary restraining order against Hickman, a teenager who left high school in Knoxville, Tenn., to attend the trial.

She said Hickman often screams at her, leads vicious chants and posts inflammatory messages on the Internet.

“I believe he wants people to attack me,” she said in her application for the court order, adding that Court TV had hired three armed guards to protect her.

Hickman would answer no questions from reporters, but his attorney, Gerardo Camacho of Santa Maria, said his client was simply exercising his 1st Amendment rights.

“He’s doing almost precisely what she’s doing,” said Camacho, who is handling Hickman’s case for free.

A hearing to make the court order permanent was set for June 29.

A woman was arrested at the courthouse Friday for allegedly spray-painting an angel on the sidewalk, Santa Maria Police Chief Danny R. Macagni said.

She was apprehended without incident and later released, he said.