Michael Jackson: From 'King of Pop' to Court Jester

June 8, 2005 — -- Michael Jackson calls himself "The King of Pop" but he may never be royalty again in the court of public opinion, even if he is acquitted of the most serious of his child molestation charges, some experts say.

"What many people forget is that even if a jury finds you not guilty, it doesn't mean you didn't do anything," said Mike Paul, who is president of the public relations firm MGP & Associates and has taught reputation management as an adjunct professor at New York University. "From a court of public opinion point of view, even if he's acquitted, Michael Jackson may be an alleged pedophile that was found not guilty. Or from a legal standpoint, [if he is convicted of child molestation] Michael Jackson will become a convicted pedophile found guilty by jurors in a court of law. And in America, what he needs to understand is that only thing worse than being a rapist or a murderer is being [an accused] child molester."

Jackson, along with the rest of the nation, awaits the verdict of his molestation trial as jurors enter their third full day of deliberations today. Jackson, 46, is accused of molesting a now 15-year-old boy, who is a cancer survivor who spent time at Neverland ranch and appeared with him in the 2003 British documentary "Living With Michael Jackson."