LOS ANGELES (AP) — The trial of the doctor charged
in Michael Jackson's death opens Tuesday with a bit of star power and the one
thing the King of Pop enjoyed throughout his life — a worldwide audience.
The case will enter a crucial final act in a packed
Los Angeles courtroom with opening statements and the start of testimony.
Jackson's family, including his parents and many of his siblings, are expected
to be present as dozens of reports cover the case. Proceedings also will be
televised and broadcast online.
While much is known about Jackson's June 2009
death, the trial will reveal new information and provide a detailed record of
the singer's final hours. Dr. Conrad Murray's trial is expected to be the first
time that the public hears — in the defendant's own words — his account of what
happened in the bedroom of Jackson's rented mansion.
By Monday evening, 15 satellite trucks and news
vans were parked within a block of the courthouse.
Prosecutors plan to call the pop superstar's friend
and choreographer, Kenny Ortega, as their first witness in the case.
During the next five weeks, prosecutors will rely
on Ortega and other witnesses to detail Jackson's final days and hours and
explain to a jury of seven men and five women exactly how the King of Pop died.
Defense attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray, who faces four years in prison and the
loss of his medical license if convicted of involuntary manslaughter, hope to
poke holes in the prosecution's case and present jurors with their own theory
that the singer was culpable for his own death.
Ortega testified at a hearing earlier this year
that Murray warned him not to try to act as Jackson's physician or psychiatrist
after Ortega sent the singer home from rehearsals for his final concerts
because he appeared to be sick. He is also likely the best witness to walk
jurors through footage of Jackson's final rehearsals that were used for the
film "This Is It," which will be played in part for jurors. Ortega
served as choreographer for the aborted shows and director of the theatrical
film.
For most of the jury, it will be their first
exposure to the footage. Only two indicated on questionnaires filled out before
the trial that they had seen any portion of "This Is It."
Prosecutors plan to play a recording of the
physician's interview with police conducted two days after Jackson's death,
when he revealed that he had been giving the entertainer the anesthetic
propofol as a sleep aid. The disclosure led to Murray being charged in February
2010 with involuntary manslaughter and nearly 20 months of legal wrangling over
how the trial will be conducted.
Witnesses' recollections and conclusions about the
events will be challenged to a far greater extent than they were during a
preliminary hearing earlier this year that resulted in a judge ruling there was
enough evidence for Murray to stand trial. Defense attorneys did not present a
case or make an opening statement during that hearing, but lead defense
attorney Ed Chernoff is expected to lay out Murray's side to jurors on Tuesday.
Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor has limited
what Murray's lawyers can say about Jackson's history with drugs and his
financial troubles. Prosecutors are similarly prohibited from mentioning some
of the messy details of the doctor's personal life, including his sizeable
debts and that he had several mistresses.
If prosecutors follow the same script they employed
during Murray's preliminary hearing, the early part of the case will likely
move in chronological order beginning with Jackson's final days and then moving
into his final hours. After the singer's security guards, paramedics and emergency
room doctors take the stand, the case will then move into more forensic and
scientific territory.
Much of that testimony will focus on propofol,
which is normally administered in hospital settings. Authorities contend Murray
administered a lethal dose of the drug along with other sedatives, and lacked
the proper lifesaving equipment to revive Jackson.
Defense attorneys will present an alternate theory
— that Jackson ingested or somehow gave himself the fatal dose.
After weeks of testimony, dozens of witnesses and
final arguments, the jury will have its say.
AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed
to this report.
Anthony McCartney can be reached at
http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Joel Ryan, File)
