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With a fanfare fit for the King of Pop, trial of singer’s doctor opens in Los Angeles

احدث اجدد واروع واجمل واشيك With a fanfare fit for the King of Pop, trial of singer’s doctor opens in Los Angeles

The curtain rose today on the opening round of the legal battle which will determine whether Michael Jackson's died in a sad accident, or if he was instead the unwitting victim of a criminally-negligent doctor who should be held responsible for his homicide.

At a preliminary hearing at the Superior Court in Downtown Los Angeles, prosecutors began outlining details of their manslaughter case against Dr Conrad Murray, a private physician who had been hired to attend to the 50-year-old singer during a series of comeback gigs at the O2 Arena in London, entitled: "This is It."

Jackson died on June 25th, 2009, after suffering a cardiac arrest at a rented home in Holmby Hills. At least six different drugs, most of them sedatives, which should not usually be mixed, were later found in his bloodstream. They had apparently been prescribed to help him overcome chronic insomnia.

According to the coroner, the fatal dose was a 20ml shot of Propofol, an anaesthetic which can be highly-addictive and is known as "milk of amnesia." Dr Murray, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, denies administering the drug in dangerous quantities.

The Case

This is not an actual homicide trial. Not yet, at least. Instead, the court is holding a "preliminary hearing" at which prosecutors outline their argument, hoping to convince the Judge that they have sufficient evidence to justify holding a full jury trial.

Normally, a "preliminary hearing" lasts only a few hours, and features perfunctory evidence from a couple of witnesses. But very little about Michael Jackson is ever normal, and the current hearing is scheduled to see almost thirty people called by prosecutors, over almost a fortnight.

This has surprised legal experts. "On one hand, the extended hearing might be PR for the prosecutors, and the evidence they unveil could even persuade Dr Murray to cop a plea bargain," says Royal Oakes, a courtroom analyst for NBC. "But it gives the defence a huge chance to look for inconsistencies in their argument, so it's something of a gamble."

The defendant

Conrad Murray, 57, was paid $150,000-a-month as Michael Jackson's personal doctor. He is accused of acting as an "enabler," who was paid an outrageously-large salary to recklessly feed his wealthy client's addiction to prescription medication.

Although Murray claims to have carefully monitored Jackson, in the hours before his death, mobile phone records reveal him to have actually been speaking with three separate callers, including his girlfriend, between 11.18am and 12.05pm on June 25th, which is roughly the time of the fatal heart attack.

The Prosecution will argue that this adds up to criminal negligence. The defence, for its part, hopes to convince a jury that Jackson killed himself, claiming the singer used a syringe left by his bed to take a oversized dose of Propofol while Murray was briefly visiting the bathroom.

The witnesses

Don't expect the fireworks to start quite yet. This being a preliminary hearing, prosecutors will keep the biggest stars up their sleeve. The defence won't call anyone at all: they will merely sit and listen, looking for holes to pick when the case reaches a full trial.

The biggest cheese to speak, in today's game of legal poker, was "This is It's" director, Kenny Ortega. He said a suspected cold had forced Jackson to briefly cancel rehearsals a week before his death, but that he quickly recovered and returned to work three days later.

Prosecutors used Ortega's evidence to argue that Jackson was relatively fit and healthy before the night of June 24th, when Dr Murray was called to his bedroom to help treat his insomnia.

The lawyers

The star of the show is Michael Pastor, an experienced judge who has handled several celebrity cases, including actor Jason Priestly's drink-driving trial, and a legal action involving topless photographs of Cameron Diaz.

Prosecuting Dr Murray is David Walgren. He is LA's Deputy District Attorney and has recently made headlines for spearheading so-far-unsuccessful efforts to secure the extradition of film director Roman Polanski on charges of child molestation.

The Defence is headed by Ed Chernoff, a lawyer from Murray's native Houston. His team intriguingly includes Michael Flanagan, one of LA's top drink-driving defenders who is famed, in legal circles, for his ability to pick holes in the evidence of police blood analysts.

The family

The opening day was attended by Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine, along with his brother Jackie, and sister, La Toya. A rolling cast of other relatives is expected to come and go throughout proceedings.

Jackson Kremlinologists will perhaps be most fascinated to see whether father Joe, who was cut off from his will, puts in an appearance. The other important players are the late singer's children, Paris, Prince Michael, and Prince Michael II. They were not in court today, but may eventually be called to give evidence.

The circus

Fifty satellite trucks, hundreds of reporters, and a smattering of fans descended on LA Superior Court today, and are likely to keep up their vigil for as long as the case lasts.

There are only 15 spaces in court for journalists, but an overflow room, with a video link-up, will house the rest of the media circus. Sadly, for the nation's cable TV networks, Judge Pastor has ruled that cameras will be banned from the courtroom, to minimise the usual hooplah of a celebrity trial.

The victim

Like so many artists, Michael Jackson found that dying was one of the best commercial decisions he could possibly have made.

Though he had barely performed or released a record in the final eight years of his life, and had fallen hundreds of millions of dollars into debt, the Michael Jackson estate, run for the benefit of his children, now has an estimated value of half a billion dollars.

In the past 18 months, his old albums have returned to the top of the charts. A documentary of his final weeks made $260m at the box office. The first of a planned series of posthumous new records made the top ten. A Cirque de Soleil show based on his music launches later this year.

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