Jackson doctor trial jury to see rehearsal footage
A Los Angeles judge has ruled that prosecutors can show limited clips of Michael Jackson’s final rehearsals during the trial of the doctor charged over the singer’s death.
A deputy district attorney said today the footage shows Jackson was highly engaged in preparing for his comeback tour and was not desperate, as defence attorneys have alleged.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said prosecutors can only show footage from Jackson’s rehearsals on the two days before he died on June 25, 2009.
Dr Conrad Murray’s defence lawyers objected to showing clips of Jackson, arguing they had been edited to show the singer in the best light.
The judge said prosecutors can show jurors two images from the singer’s autopsy.
Judge Pastor ruled that prosecutors trying Murray can show what the judge described as benign photos that are not graphic or gruesome.
Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said he intends to introduce photos during the upcoming trial and they will be carefully displayed.
Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Authorities have accused him of giving Jackson a lethal dose of the anaesthetic propofol in the bedroom of his rented mansion in June 2009.
Murray’s attorneys have suggested in recent months that the singer may have given himself the fatal dose.
