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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Michael Jackson Death Trial: Prosecutors Show Death Photo, Play Recording of Drugged King of Pop!

A photo of Michael Jackson lying dead in a hospital bed was shown in a courtroom today and jurors heard a shocking audio tape of a drugged Jackson slurring his words so badly that he was barely understandable.

The photo and the audio were part of the opening statement prosecutors made at the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, who is accused of involuntary manslaughter in the death of the king of pop.

Murray's lawyer, Ed Chernoff, told the court that Murray isn't to blame for Jackson's death, that Jackson gave himself of dose of drugs that killed him so quickly that Jackson "didn't even have time to close his eyes."

Attorney David Walgren showed a photo of Jackson dancing at the Staples Center the night before he overdosed on propofol and put the picture side by side with a picture of Jackson lying lifeless in a hospital bed, draped in a hospital gown.

"What happened between that time and approximately 12 hours later when Michael Jackson is dead on June 25, 2009?" Walgren asked. "What you will learn through the evidence is that what happened during that time frame is that the acts and omissions of Michael Jackson's personal doctor, Conrad Murray, directly led to his premature death at the age of 50."

Murray, 58, could face four years in prison and lose his medical license if convicted. Throughout the opening statement, prosecutors attacked Murray's medical skills, saying he showed gross negligence and abandonment in his treatment of Jackson.

Prosecutors played a recording of a drugged Jackson. The recording had been made on Murray's iPhone on May 10, 2009, a little more than a month before Jackson died.


Jackson's voice is nearly unrecognizable as he stumbles and talks slowly about the impact he hopes his "This Is It" Tour will have. Jackson was preparing for the 50-night grueling comeback tour at the time of his death.

"We have to be phenomenal... when people leave this show, when people leave my show, I want them to say I've never seen nothing like this in my life. Go. Go . I've never seen nothing like this. Go. It's amazing. He's the greatest entertainer in the world," he mumbles.

"I'm taking that money, a million children, children's hospital the biggest in the world. Michael Jackson's Children's Hospital," Jackson says in the recording.

The prosecutor also said that the upcoming tour was important to Jackson because it would be the first time that his children would see him perform.The courtroom is packed with the Jackson family members including father Joe Jackson, mother Kathryn Jackson and siblings like Janet Jackson.

Murray, in a gray pin striped suit, looked stunned at the evidence compiled against him. He cried when his defense attorney, Ed Chernoff, delivered the defense's opening statement.

"While Michael Jackson was frustrated because he could not sleep, frustrated because his doctor refused to give him a drug that he preferred, that he wanted, he did an act without his doctor's knowledge, without his doctor's permission," Chernoff said.

The defense claimed that Jackson took a sedative and then a final dose of propofol without his doctor's knowledge. The sedative lorazepam coupled with the propofol created a "perfect sorm in his body that killed him instantly."

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