SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- About 100 fans chanting support greeted Michael Jackson as he arrived at the California courthouse where he is being tried on child molestation charges.
Jackson, dressed in all white, arrived Monday in a black sport-utility vehicle with tinted windows and was escorted by an assistant who held an umbrella over his head, CNN reports.
Some 750 potential jurors have been called for the case. Jury selection will begin with the first pool of 300 later in the day.
Jackson is accused of molesting a boy stricken with cancer at Jackson's Neverland ranch in 2003.
Jackson issued a statement Sunday, asking the public to keep "an open mind and let me have my day in court."
With the permission from Santa Barbara Superior Judge Rodney Melville, Jackson posted the plea on his Web site, calling leaks from the grand jury "ugly" and "malicious," and said the grand jury testimony "took place in a proceeding where neither my lawyers nor I ever appeared.
"Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court," Jackson said. "I will be acquitted and vindicated when the truth is told."
Jackson, 46, was indicted by a grand jury on four counts of child molestation, four counts of administering an intoxicating agent, one count of attempted child molestation and one count of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion.
