Photos of Michael Jackson’s dead body will be allowed as evidence in the manslaughter trial against the late pop icon’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray.Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor ruled Thursday (April 21) that jurors would be allowed to view photos from Jackson’s autopsy, despite prosecutors claims that it would create an emotional bias in the trial. Only two photos — one of Jackson in a hospital gown and another where he is naked but portions of his body are covered — will be shown of Jackson’s limp body on the coroner’s table. The district attorney describes both photos as “not gruesome or gory.”
The judge approved the photos and is allowing footage of Jackson rehearsing for his final ‘This Is It’ into the courtroom because both help paint a picture of the singer’s health at the time of his death. “I don’t think this should be entertainment,” Pastor said. “We should not feel deprived of our 99-cent iTunes if we don’t hear the whole song.”
The judge also filtered the dirty laundry that will be allowed to air in his courtroom. Women Murray had extramarital affairs with at the time he was treating Jackson will be allowed to testify, but the disgraced doctors financial information and child support issues will be kept out of the courtroom.
The manslaughter trial is set to begin on May 9 in Los Angeles. It is expected to last 45 days and if convicted Murray faces up to four years in prison.
Jackson died on June 25, 2009, after being found lifeless in his Beverly Hills home and rushed to the nearby UCLA Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead.
Thanx to theboombox.com
