Est. 1998
Lawyers Want Jury Sequestered
At a hearing in the Los Angeles Superior Court, Conrad Murray’s lawyer, J Michael Flanagan, has requested that the jury should be sequestered during Murray’s trial, for Michael’s alleged involuntary manslaughter.
Judge Pastor said that the defence is at liberty to make the request, but he does not feel that there are sufficient grounds to grant sequestration. When the judge asked when the jury should be sequestered, Murray’s lawyer answered that it should be when “Nancy Grace is on TV.”
Every Michael fan knows that Ms. Grace’s behaviour when Michael was on trial in 2005 was reprehensible, but it seems that she now may believe that Conrad Murray is guilty.
The judge also made the point that the justice system is under severe financial constraints, and the sequestration would be very expensive.
In another development, Judge Pastor said he would travel to Sony Pictures studios in Culver City, to evaluate more than a dozen hours of footage shot during Michael’s final rehearsals.
The prosecution had identified twelve hours of outtakes from the documentary ‘This Is It,’ as relevant evidence. The defense claims only four hours should be shown to jurors.
Mr Flanagan acknowledged outside court that the defense didn’t find what they had hoped for — footage of Michael appearing ill or impaired before his death.
Asked what conclusion could be reached from viewing Michael’s rehearsals, he said, “He is very talented. Even on his bad days, he’s good.”
“We believe his health is somewhat compromised, but he’s not displaying it,” said Flanagan. He said the only implication of problems might be days when Michael was absent from rehearsals.
He now believes that showing footage from the film is irrelevant to the trial. “I really think it’s a big waste of time,” he said.
Source: CNN, yahoo.com & MJWN
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