It has to be one of the great and bizarre coincidences in North American jurisprudence.
Just four months after Michael Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges in a case watched round the world, the King of Pop is supposed to be back in court – but this time as a juror.
The entertainer, who has probably seen enough halls of justice to last him a lifetime, had his name randomly turn up on a list of potential jurors to hear a case.
There's nothing malevolent in the move. Jackson’s call to the system so soon after his own brush with the law ended is simply a strange quirk of fate.
The summons arrived this week at the singer’s Neverland Ranch in California.
"It's just one of those ironies of life that he'd be called as a juror," shrugs Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola School of Law.
The U.S., like Canada, has a system where citizens are required to report for jury duty if called, unless there’s a compelling reason that disqualifies them.
And Jackson may have one.
His lawyers have already filed for a deferment, claiming the “Thriller” creator now officially lives in Bahrain, and therefore is outside the jurisdiction of the U.S.
"He is permanently living outside of the United States," attorney Thomas Mesereau points out. And if anyone can get Jackson out of his new court date, it’s Mesereau. He’s the lawyer who successfully defended the rocker in his child molestation case.
Jury Commissioner Gary Blair agrees the chances anyone will see Jackson moon walking into court are slim. "All he has to do is show he has legal residency somewhere else and he'll be exempted," he admits.
Jackson isn’t the first celebrity from his local California neighbourhood to have been served with the notice. Bo Derek actually did her civic duty in one case with no incident.
And Ronald Reagan also got the call to be one of a 12-member panel, but he had a legitimate excuse for his exemption. He was president of the United States at the time.
