Murray's lawyers filed petition to sequester jury and seek a delay

Taking a cue by the recent prosecution's request related to the Lloyd's of London case to delay the release of the files of coroner and fire department until after Murray's trial, attorneys for Murray asked an appellate court Friday afternoon to order sequestration for jurors, calling a judge’s earlier order denying their request an “abuse of discretion.”

In the filing, Murray's attorneys noted that even prosecutors had written that they were “concerned about the risk of jury contamination”.

Attorneys also asked to halt the start of jury selection on September 8 until the issue of sequestration is decided by California's Second District Court of Appeals.

In their petition, they wrote that without around-the-clock isolation, the jury will be “poisoned” by a flood of media reports and commentary on Murray’s trial, unless they were placed in a hotel during Murray's trial and predicted that the level of coverage will be even more extensive than in the Casey Anthony trial, in which they said cable personality Nancy Grace "used airtime to campaign for the conviction of Ms. Anthony."

“It is Pollyanna to expect the jury members to go home each workday and weekend for six weeks and entirely avoid the mass of exposure this trial will engender,” Nareg Gourjian, one of Murray’s attorneys, wrote. He also noted that, according to one database, there had already been 7,000 articles written on the case, and contended that it would be impossible for jurors to avoid outside information or opinion on the trial once outside the courtroom.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor twice denied the request for sequestration, saying he had faith that jurors would heed his warnings to avoid media coverage of the trial. He also said the court system could not afford the cost, given its dire financial situation.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said they would have no comment on the petition.

MJFS - sources: AP / latimes.com