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Michael Jackson’s Doctor’s Trial Off to an Upsetting Start

Conrad Murray.

Apparently, day one of Dr. Conrad Murray’s manslaughter trial was a bit of a horror show. Prosecutors kicked off the proceedings against the doctor, who is accused of inadvertently killing Michael Jackson with an overdose of Propofol, by showing the jury a photograph of the singer’s dead body (helpfully labeled “homicide”). That was followed by the playing of an eerie recording recovered from Murray’s cell phone in which a slurring, incoherent Jackson tells the doctor about his plans to use the proceeds from his comeback tour to build a children’s hospital. Meanwhile, the defense team stuck with its plan to argue that Jackson committed suicide. In his opening statement, lawyer Ed Chernoff promised to show that the singer gave himself the fatal injection, and that Murray was not even in the room when he died. He added that no amount of medical attention could have saved Jackson, who “died rapidly, so instantly he didn’t even have time to close his eyes.” According to reports, all this was enough to reduce both Jackson’s mother and Murray to tears before the court broke for lunch. [LAT]

Michael Jackson’s Doctor’s Trial Off to an Upsetting Start