Last Shot At Jackson Jury

CBS' Andrew Cohen Previews The Closing Arguments

(CBS)  Prosecutors ask you to use common sense. We make a similar request. Ask yourself how many parts of the accuser's story don't make sense. Each of these examples represents reasonable doubt and each should lead you to an acquittal.

There is reasonable doubt, too, from the other young men who came forward, men identified by prosecution witnesses, third-parties mostly, as other so-called "victims" of Mr. Jackson. But these young men testified, under oath, that they are not victims of Mr. Jackson.

So who should you believe? The young with direct knowledge of what went on, or what didn't go on, between themselves and Mr. Jackson? Or other people who say they might have seen this or that? It's like that old line: who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?

And even though it is not the case you are to judge beginning later today, the 1993 episode between Mr. Jackson and another accuser, an event that prosecutors made so much of during their presentation, is full of reasonable doubt.

Michael Jackson already has paid a terrible price for opening himself up to these sorts of extortion games. He knows that. And he regrets it. It's a problem that he has only himself to blame for. But just because he is in many ways innocent, and naïve and vulnerable, as you heard witnesses testify to during this case, doesn't mean that he is a criminal or that he engaged in the awful acts he stands accused of.

But this is more than a weak molestation case. It's a terrible conspiracy case, too. You heard hour upon hour of testimony about all sorts of things that were allegedly done and said to Jackson's accuser and his family.

And yet how many times did you hear that Mr. Jackson said those words or did those deeds? If there was a conspiracy here, absurd in itself, it was brought about by people who do not themselves face charges and who did not show up to testify in this case.

Remember those witnesses who testified about the distance between Mr. Jackson and these men? Remember Debbie Rowe when she testified about how Mr. Jackson was manipulated even by those closest around him? That's your conspiracy.

Some of you may have even asked yourselves, based upon how bad this conspiracy evidence was, why it even was included in this case. It was included so that prosecutors could convince the judge to allow into this case all those other phony-baloney molestation accusations you heard about, second- and third-hand. Don't let prosecutors get away with that trick.

Don't judge Michael Jackson harshly for his lifestyle. It's not perfect. It's not what you or I would choose. Don't judge him for his clothes or his fame or his face or the unusual way in which he views the world.

In America, it isn't a crime to be strange. And you folks have a unique opportunity to remind everyone that it never should be.

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Attorney Andrew Cohen analyzes legal issues for CBS News and CBSNews.com.