Judge barred the 2005 allegations from Murray's trial
The judge in the upcoming trial of Murray ruled Monday that the defense cannot call any witnesses to testify about the allegations that led to Michael Jackson's trial and acquittal in 2005.
Prosecutor David Walgren argued that lawyers for Murray were seeking to engage in character assassination of the victim in the involuntary manslaughter case.
The people are concerned about this trial deteriorating into an attack on Michael Jackson,” Walgren said.
Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor barred a half-dozen witnesses related to the 2005 trial, including the police detective who headed searches of Jackson’s Neverland home in Santa Barbara County in 2003. The judge said such testimony would be distracting and misleading for the jury in Murray’s trial and is irrelevant.
The judge said he was barring any mention of the molestation case because, “It proves nothing regarding the year 2009.”
Murray's attorney Edward Chernoff said he was seeking testimony that in the past Jackson had been addicted to the painkiller Demerol and that the 2005 trial was the cause of that addiction.
In court on Monday, Chernoff suggested that Jackson was desperate for sleep and turned to propofol because he was withdrawing from Demerol. Still, Murray's lawyers was going to contend that Murray didn’t know that Dr. Klein was giving Michael Jackson Demerol, at the same time he was giving him Propofol, to sleep.
Walgren, however, said in the autopsy report was found no Demerol. Also, was found no kind of drug abuse.
The judge effectively blocked the Demerol issue when he also excluded the testimony of Dr. Arnold Klein.
Judge Pastor stated that Dr. Klein’s testimony isn’t relevant to the case, and that it could confuse the jury.
Walgren argued that Murray's lawyers were seeking to transfer Murray's responsibility in the case to Klein. The judge agreed with the prosecutor.
“The calling of Dr. Klein does raise the issue of third party culpability,” the judge said, noting jurors would become distracted by that issue.
Pastor said he would permit two other doctors. One was a dentist who used Murray’s office for a dental procedure on Jackson in which he administered propofol. And a former Jackson's nurse Cherylin Lee will also testify and in documents filed by Murray’s attorney Nareg Gourjian, they claim she will discuss Michael asking her for Propofol on April 19, 2009.
Murray's attorney Ed Chernoff reiterated that he would claim Jackson self-administered the drug in a desperate quest for sleep. Although the Los Angeles coroner stated that it was impossible for him self-administer propofol.
Also barred was the testimony of Tohme Tohme, a one-time Jackson manager who negotiated the contracts for Jackson’s This Is It Tour, and John Branca, the co-executor of Jackson’s Estate. Pastor has said Jackson’s finances won’t be discussed at the trial.
Murray is accused of giving Jackson a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol and other sedatives on June 25, 2009 without the safety measures required before leaving the room for speaking on the phone, as emerged during the preliminary hearing.
The judge ordered lawyers back to court September 6 to finalize jury questionnaires which will be handed out beginning September 8.
He said in-court questioning will begin September 23 with each side allotted 20 minutes to question each jury prospect.
When Chernoff suggested that time was too short, the judge said, “Counsel will have the most comprehensive jury questionnaire I’ve ever seen, perhaps the most comprehensive one ever. You will know from that who they are and what they are thinking.”
Opening statements in the trial of Murray are scheduled to begin on September 26.
MJFS - sources: AP / radaronline.com