Judge allows one sibling of Michael Jackson to attend trial each day
Michael Jackson's siblings have been banned from court.
The late King of Pop's brothers and sisters - including Janet, Jermaine, Jackie, La Toya, Marlon, Rebbie and Randy Jackson - will not be able to sit in the courtroom together for fear of influencing the jury in the family's $40 billion wrongful death lawsuit against AEG Live.
AEG's lawyer Marvin Putnam argued that there was "a risk in allowing any of them in the courtroom", as their seats would be close to the jury box in the Los Angeles courtroom and all of Jackson's siblings are expected to be called as witnesses in the trial, except Marlon.
The defence lawyers asked that Randy Jackson be ejected from the courtroom yesterday as the second day of the court case got under way, but a lawyer for Katherine Jackson - who, as the plaintiff in the case, is allowed to stay in court every day - insisted that she need one of her children to sit with her.
Judge Yvette Palazuelos ruled that one sibling can attend court each day, saying: "He can remain but you cannot have five in the courtroom."
Los Angeles County paramedic Richard Senneff - who was one of the medics who responded to a 911 call on the night of Michael's death in June 2009 - was the first witness to testify in court yesterday.
Recalling the 'Thriller' singer's condition, he said: "The patient was very pale and underweight. He looked like someone who was at the end stage of a long disease process."
Senneff alleges, however, that Conrad Murray - Michael's physician who has since been convicted of manslaughter for administering the drug Propofol that killed the singer - told him: "No, no, this just happened."
The paramedic testified that Michael showed signs of having been dead for nearly one hour and claimed that Murray was "frantic" and evasive when questioned about the incident.
He added: "To us it didn't make sense that it had just happened."
Michael's family are suing AEG - the concert promoters behind his ill-fated 'This Is It' comeback concerts at London's The O2 arena - claiming they are responsible for his death by hiring Murray to care for him.
