Tuesday 26 July 2011

Michael Jackson Tour Rehearsals Will Not Be Shown In Court

Prosecutors wanted to show some 12 hours of unedited footage from the "This Is It" movie about Jackson in a bid to demonstrate that the "Thriller" singer was healthy and in good form before he died of a drug overdose in June 2009.

Attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray, who is charged with being responsible for Jackson's death after giving him a dose of the anesthetic propofol, are expected to argue at trial that "This Is It," which was released after the pop star's death, was not a true picture of his health in his final days.

Sony Pictures, the studio that released the documentary film, argued that showing the never-before-seen footage in a public court might hurt its potential commercial value. The studio said it screened more than 100 hours of raw footage for the attorneys and the judge in the case.

Judge Michael Pastor made the ruling on Monday, concluding that it would not help the defense and that "it was a waste of my time."

The jury will, however, be shown clips that were used in the movie showing Jackson rehearsing for a series of comeback concerts in London.

However, Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor says footage - which was taken just days before his tragic death - will not add anything to the case, even though he agrees that Jackson was not in poor health.
He said: "There is absolutely nothing in those materials that could have been of assistance to the defence."
Pastor also agreed with the lawyers for Sony Pictures Entertainment that the clips have significant value and should not be publicly shown without a good reason.
He added: "There are materials which I viewed which I would regard as extremely valuable to Sony."
Murray has been accused of administering the medication and failing to provide proper care leading to Jackson's death, but in recent months, his lawyers have suggested the singer gave himself the lethal dose.

No comments:

Post a Comment