The autopsy photos allowed as evidence in the trial
Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said prosecutors can present two photos of autopsy report as evidence in the trial against Murray.
Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor
One of the two photos shows Michael Jackson clothed and another nacked, but the judge explained that some parts will be obscured. The judge also said the photographs are relevant to the case and described them as benign photos that are not graphic or gruesome.
Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said he is aware Michael's family will be in the courtroom during the trial, adding that the images will be carefully displayed.
The prosecutor said the images will bolster its case that the Michael Jackson was healthy overall, and that they would also show puncture marks on Michael Jackson's body.
Defense attorneys objected to the photos being displayed during trial, arguing that Coroner's officials and experts can describe Michael Jackson's condition without showing the images.
The judge barred both sides from delving far into the personal lives of both the physician and his famous patient, saying he wanted to focus the trial tightly on Murray’s medical care of Jackson in the months and days prior to June 25.
Jurors, Pastor said, will hear nothing about Murray’s extramarital affairs, out-of-wedlock children and penchant for strip clubs, all evidence prosecutors had hoped to present. Nor, he said, will they hear evidence that the defense had sought to introduce concerning Jackson’s crushing debt and mountain of pending lawsuits.
The ruling on Jackson’s money woes was a particularly difficult blow for Murray, whose lawyers had said their case hinged on linking Jackson’s desperate financial straits to their contention that he administered himself a fatal dose of propofol. In comments in court, defense lawyer Ed Chernoff indicated that the defense planned to argue that Jackson took the drug for insomnia so he could be ready for rehearsals in a comeback concert series that would end his money problems.
But Pastor called Jackson’s debt irrelevant and said testimony from a financial analyst retained by the defense would make for “a battle of accountants” and “turn what should be a focused trial involving a charge of involuntary manslaughter into a salacious analysis of personal financial issues”.
“We simply are not going there”, he said.
The defense also lost a fight to prohibit the use of the autopsy photos and video clips of rehearsal that were taken from the posthumous Jackson documentary “This Is It”.
Defense lawyer Nareg Gourjian said the clips were “sliced and diced” by moviemakers to give a false impression of Jackson’s abilities and health, but Deputy Dist. Atty. David Walgren said videos were “most probative as to Michael Jackson’s mental and physical wellbeing and optimism for the future”.
Jury selection will resume on May 4.
Opening statements were scheduled for May 9.
MJFS
Sources: AP / TMZ / latimes.com