If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” Many remember those famous words defense attorney Johnnie Cochran used in the closing arguments of the O.J. Simpson case. O.J. Simpson was acquitted.

The closing arguments in the Michael Jackson case also had some memorable words, this time from Senior Deputy District attorney Ron Zonen. “The lion on the Serengeti doesn’t go after the strongest antelope,” Zonen said. “The predator goes after the weakest.”

This time around, those memorable words didn’t result in success.

Michael Jackson was found not guilty of all charges Monday — and I, for one, am happy.

Yes, I actually believe — based on the evidence — that the man who danced on top of his SUV, came to court one day in his pajamas and dangled his kid from the top of a balcony is innocent.

He might be eccentric, but that doesn’t make him guilty. After all, we don’t expect a man who had an entirely different childhood than most people and was surrounded by so much fame at a very young age to behave like the rest of us.

Many in the media portrayed Michael Jackson as a guilty, crazy man, even while they exploited the attention the case had garnered to boost ratings for their shows.

Here is a comment Jay Leno made: “According to the news, Michael Jackson is broke and can’t even afford the payroll at Neverland Ranch. So the next time you see Michael with his hands in a 12—year—old’s pocket, he might just be looking for lunch money.”

This statement might be funny to most people, but it highlights a problem that isn’t comical. The media convicts and ridicules people who are on trial, simply because they don’t fit a certain norm. This happened in the Scott Peterson case as well.

The question shouldn’t be whether the defendant acts the way the rest of us would act in similar situations; it should be whether, based on the evidence, he is guilty or not. Analyzing cases any other way opens the door to other problems — including racism.

A new Gallup poll shows that about 2 to 1 whites disagreed with the jury’s decision to acquit Jackson. Non-whites agreed with the verdict by a similar margin.

People have different perceptions on the way normal people should act, and sometimes these differences exist along racial lines. If we start convicting people, simply because of circumstantial evidence that shows their actions weren’t “normal,” then minorities and other people who might not fit the dominant culture need to be worried — and as indicated by the Gallup poll, some of them are. Being a fan of Michael Jackson’s music, there are two words from the trial that will live memorably in me: Not guilty.