Sony agrees to show This Is It raw footage to Murray's lawyers

Sony Pictures Entertainment has agreed to allow lawyers for Murray to view some 100 hours of raw footage of Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for his This Is It Concert, but they are not allowed to make public statements about what they see.

A stipulation filed with a Los Angeles court on Thursday said that the lawyers and Murray will be able to view the contents of 21 boxes containing audio visual recordings of Jackson’s rehearsals.

His lawyers are seeking footage with which they want to argue may show Jackson was not well.

In the autopsy report, the coroner stated that Michael Jackson was in good health and had no diseases that could endanger his life.

Prosecutors had previously got the Judge's permission to show jurors, during the trial scheduled for September 20, excerpts of the days 23 and 24 June from the "This Is It" movie to show Michael Jackson was in good health.

The parties reached agreement:

"Sony has agreed to allow Dr. Murray and his counsel to inspect and view the materials in question at a location to be designated by Sony Pictures Entertainment," the stipulation said.

After the viewing, it said, lawyers will prepare a log of segments they want to obtain for use in Murray's case.

It specified that neither Murray nor his agents or attorneys will make any public statements about "the content or nature of the materials, their storage, their location or their quality."

The only issue left for the judge to resolve is who will pay the costs of personnel required for the viewing and copying of segments designated by the defense.

A hearing on the issue is scheduled for Friday but lawyers for both sides indicated in the papers they will ask for the matter to be continued to July 27.

MJFS

Source: AP