Two Jackson jurors claim pressure to acquit

Two of the jurors in the Michael Jackson trial have said in a televised interview that they felt pressured to acquit the star.

All twelve jurors in the trial voted unanimously to acquit Jackson on charges ranging from conspiracy to commit child abduction to furnishing alcohol to a minor.

Eleanor Cook, in an interview that aired Monday night on MSNBC, said that there was "no doubt" in her mind that the boy at the centre of the trial "was molested."

Cook added that she and Hultman felt pressured to change their votes in the jury room, claiming that one juror said that if she did not change her vote, "he would have to notify the bailiff, the bailiff would notify the judge, and the judge would have me removed."

Ray Hultman said that the other jurors "wouldn't take their blinders off long enough to really look at all the evidence that was there."

Both Cook and Hultman have book deals pending.

Tom Mesereau, the attorney who defended Jackson during the trial, branded the jurors' remarks "embarrassing and outrageous." Speaking out on the same MSNBC programme, Mesereau noted that both jurors "voted not guilty 14 times," adding that he thinks their comments are "laughable."