Jury selection continues in Michael Jackson murder trial

The lawyers for the accused, Conrad Murray, are putting forward new theories to get their client acquitted, and the judge is selecting members of his trial jury. Naturally, the lawyers do not want Michael Jackson fans to be among the jury members. That’s why a question has been raised: “Are you a Michael Jackson fan?” So far, the judge has checked the qualifications of 340 ordinary people. With the exception of 147, the rest were rejected. But the judge says that, to form this jury, more time must be spent. He needs more people so that, from among them, he can safely choose 12 main jurors and 6 worthy and impartial alternates, and place the serious responsibility of deciding the fate of the case on their shoulders. The judge has disqualified many of these people because of having extensive “media” information and strong opinions about this highly controversial murder case. For example, only three of the 340 people said they had no knowledge of the case. Those selected will attend a question-and-answer session on May 4 so their qualifications can be examined more precisely. Yesterday, a 29-page jury questionnaire was made available to the media. There are 117 questions on these pages. These forms ask jury candidates whether they have ever met Michael Jackson and/or any member of his family, whether they have bought his songs and albums, whether they have attended his concerts, whether they have watched the film This Is It, and if so, why. They also ask whether they know any of the 100 likely witnesses for this case. Michael’s three children, his parents, and his sisters and brothers are also included in this list. A large portion of the questionnaire is dedicated to questions about how familiar they are with painkillers and narcotics, and about the media coverage of such news. One question is whether they think the law treats celebrities differently from ordinary people. The defense lawyers also want to know whether these candidates have ever personally used drugs or sedatives such as propofol, or have had a long list of painkiller medications. And whether they—or their relatives—have ever been addicted or attended addiction treatment sessions. The candidates’ answers to questions like these will be published in the media on May 4, when the court begins a more detailed review of their qualifications. In another move, Murray’s lawyers asked the judge to prevent details of their client’s private life—including his debts and unpaid child support, financial complaints, and his many relationships with different women—from being brought up in court. One of their requests is to bar the mention of “sexual scandals.” A heart specialist, the accused Conrad Murray, has been a member of one of the strip-clubs for women in Los Angeles and has spent a lot of money there. They also want to prevent the display of autopsy photos of Michael Jackson in court because they believe it would negatively affect the jury’s impartiality. These photos have remained hidden and sealed since Michael’s death in June 2009, and it is unclear whether the prosecution has plans to use them. The judge will decide on these requests on April 21. Source: eMJey.com / abcnews / msnb