Jury Members Won’t Watch the Unreleased This Is It Films

Yesterday, Judge Michael Pastor announced his decision regarding the unreleased footage of Michael’s rehearsals for the This Is It tour: the jury will not watch anything.

The 111-minute This Is It film, which depicts Michael Jackson’s rehearsals on stage in the final hours of his life, was extracted from more than 100 hours of recorded footage of him. A while back, the defense attorneys for Conrad Murray, the doctor accused of involuntary manslaughter, asked the judge to allow them to watch these 100 hours of footage, which are kept in Sony Studios under confidential and protected conditions. The lawyers were looking for signs of weakness and illness in these films. Last week, they announced that watching the footage was a waste of time and that they did not find what they were looking for.

However, the prosecution, which believes these films show Michael with confidence, enthusiasm, and good health, asked the judge to allow 12 hours of this footage to be shown in court as evidence to support their claim against Murray. Sony had opposed the prosecution’s request because of the value of these films and the need to keep them confidential so they can be used commercially in the future.

Now the judge has ruled in Sony’s favor. As a result, these films will remain sealed and Sony will keep them.

Although watching several hours of the This Is It recorded footage ultimately did not produce any result for the lawyers and the prosecution, the comment made by Michael Flanagan—one of the lawyers for the doctor accused of Michael’s murder—about the films is noteworthy.

Flanagan, on Wednesday of the previous week, said in a press conference after the informal court session ended that the films showed him that Michael:

“was very talented. His work is truly good. Even on his bad days, his work is good.”

Flanagan also accepted that when performing on stage, there was no visible sign of illness or physical weakness in Michael. He also said that Michael is mentally healthy in these films and is not worried or depressed.

However, regarding the prosecution’s request to use these films in court, Flanagan said: “The films only show his performance on stage. I don’t know what connection it could have with the night of his death, when he was unable to sleep.”

The selection of jury members for the trial is expected to begin on September 8 in Los Angeles.

Source: eMJey.com / cbsnews.com / CNN