Michael Jackson takes up residence in Bahrain

Michael Jackson has been summoned for jury duty in California but won't be serving because he no longer considers Neverland Valley Ranch his home, court officials said on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear where the pop star would be hanging his famous black hat, although he has been in Bahrain for much of the past few months.

Jackson, who spent four months of this year in a central California courtroom before winning an acquittal on child sex abuse charges, was randomly called for jury duty as a resident of Santa Barbara County, court spokesman Gary Blair said.

But Blair said Jackson attorney Robert Sanger called court officials to notify them that the 47-year-old entertainer would not be able to serve because he would no longer be living at Neverland full time.

Blair said Jackson was issued a 90-day deferral on his jury service while he completed paperwork notifying the court of his move.

Blair said Sanger did not tell the court where Jackson would be living and neither Sanger nor Jackson's lead criminal defense attorney, Tom Mesereau, could immediately be reached for comment.

Jackson purchased Neverland, a former cattle ranch nestled in the scenic central California foothills, for some $17 million in 1988 and added a Disneyland-like theme park, complete with rides.

At the trial Jackson was charged with molesting a young recovering cancer patient at Neverland in February or March of 2003. Prosecutors accused him of using Neverland to lure boys there for abuse.

A jury found Jackson innocent on all charges in June and within weeks he had traveled to Bahrain, where he has spent much of his time since, although he recently was in London, apparently working on a charity single to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Reuters reports.

A. A.