By Mark LaFlamme,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Kathleen Cyr could not believe it. Her mouth literally fell open when she heard the verdicts.

“Oh, my God,” she said. “Oh. My. God. I’m horrified.”

Cyr, in her 50s, stood with a small group of people in front of a bank of televisions at Sears. Michael Jackson had just been acquitted of all counts against him. There was shock and anger. There was disbelief and resign.

“If you’ve got the money, you can walk on anything,” said 46-year-old Frank Kaluzyski, leaning against a washer for sale at the store.

Most of the people who gathered around television sets at the Lisbon Street department store had not gone there for that purpose. They were there on other business. But when it was announced a verdict was imminent, few could pull themselves away.

“Secretly, I’m curious to hear how it comes out,” said 41-year-old Carol Lane. “But I don’t consider this news, not with everything else that’s going on in the world.”

Some people at Sears simply gaped as the verdict was delivered. Others shook their heads and walked out of the electronics department in disgust. A few had strong opinions about how the King of Pop had danced away from the 10 counts against him.

“It’s a big story. He’s famous,” said 21-year-old Eric Emond, who works in the automotive section at Sears. “If this was anybody else, it would have been done long ago. But it’s Michael Jackson. He’s too rich to convict, just like O.J. Simpson.”

Lane was perhaps the most disgusted of them all. Not only had another celebrity walked away from horrific charges, but the nation as a whole was watching as he did.

“I think, as an American, it’s really kind of an embarrassment that people are so obsessed with it,” she said. “This is what the mainstream press thinks people want to hear about. They don’t want to hear about people dying in Iraq. It’s really upsetting.”

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Still, as the verdicts were read Lane and others leaned in toward a high definition television. There was not much to see. The moment came down to words uttered in monotone from a courtroom on the West Coast. Even Lane, bemused by all the attention the trial had generated, could not pull herself away at the end.

“Whoa!” she said as Jackson was found not guilty on the fifth count. “That blows me away. This is pretty shocking.”

Cyr was eager to leave the store immediately after the verdicts were announced. Her business at Sears was done. She did not regret she had been there for the big moment, however. She was clear on the fact that she had been interested in the trial all along.

“Yes, I’ve been interested,” she said. “How could you not be interested?”