Nancy Grace Stands Behind Jackson Coverage

As Michael Jackson tries to repair his image after an arduous trial for child molestation charges which resulted in a not guilty verdict, TV legal analyst Nancy Grace isn't backing down from her belief that he is guilty.

"Frankly, when it comes to Mr. Jackson, I believe I was right," she told Thalia Assuras in an interview for Sunday Morning. "And if you take a look at the jury who is now writing a book about how guilty Mr. Jackson is, they agree with me, although they didn't have the guts to say it in verdict form."

But Jackson's lawyer Tom Mesereau said Grace put Jackson on trial in the court of public opinion by presuming his guilt from her seat behind an anchor desk.

"I think her coverage of the Jackson case was sub-moronic. She didn't know the facts; she didn't know the evidence. She didn't know the witnesses. She didn't know what was happening in the courtroom," Mesereau said. "She tried to spin a verdict through a lot of emotional innuendo that was just buffoonery as far as I am concerned. When she was humiliated by the acquittals of Michael Jackson, she lashed out at jurors. I thought she was a disgrace. I thought she was the bottom of the barrel."

Grace said that Mesereau is a talented attorney and the reason that Jackson walked free. But defense attorneys often forget to remind people that the presumption of innocence can be pierced and overcome by evidence, Grace said.

"Listen, I grew up standing that far from the TV screen dancing to 'Soul Train,' trying to be Michael Jackson," she said. "I won the swing championship for my age category to Michael Jackson's 'Rockin' Robin,' all right?"

Grace said she never wanted to see a music legend destroyed — but that the evidence against Jackson was overwhelming.

"If you don't have a problem with a 40 year-old-man in his underwear in bed with a non-relative, 7- or 8- or 9-year-old, that's your business. I have a problem with it," she said. "I've tried too many molestation cases not to care."