Jurors in Michael Jackson Case Will Not Watch Concert Rehearsal Footage
Jurors in Michael Jackson’s manslaughter trial will not be watching previously unseen footage of the late pop star rehearsing for a comeback concert just days before he was found dead in his California home.
Judge Michael Pastor ruled Monday that footage showing Jackson rehearsing for a concert that would have launched in July 2009 did not show the singer in bad health.
Defense attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray, accused in Jackson’s death, had argued that watching hours and hours of the footage would have been a “big waste of time,” reports the Associated Press.
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The available footage totals 100 hours, and prosecutors wanted to screen 12 hours of the footage while the defense team had asked to show about four hours of the material.
Judge Pastor, siding with attorneys for Sony Pictures Entertainment, noted that the clips are extremely valuable and that none of it needed to be shown to potential jurors. The judge said he found no legitimate reason to screen the footage publicly.
Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said the footage “demonstrated that Michael Jackson was optimistic, engaged, confident, physically well,” the Associated Press reports.
“There is absolutely nothing in those materials that could have been of assistance to the defense,” Judge Pastor said, agreeing with prosecutors.
The judge, who has ruled that snippets of the theatrical version of "This Is It" can be shown at trial, said it was unnecessary to show other clips.
The footage, owned by Sony, is part of the documentary titled “This Is It,” which chronicles Jackson’s preparation for the would-be concert of the same name.
Jackson died on June 25, 2009 just days before the start of his comeback concerts at London’s O2 arena. The pop star, whose career was marred by accusations of child molestation, was 50. He left behind three children: Prince, Paris, and Blanket.
Murray, Jackson’s personal doctor at the time, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors say Murray gave the pop star, whom he was treating for insomnia, a deadly dose of the anesthetic propofol in his Los Angeles home.
Meanwhile, Murray’s attorneys are expected to argue that Jackson gave himself a lethal dose of the anesthetic while the doctor was out of his presence.
Jury selection for the highly anticipated trial begins September 8.
