The request comes after more than a month of private meetings between defense attorneys, prosecutors and the judge to try to get testing on the items performed. Dr. Conrad Murray's defense team has expressed urgency for the testing, saying fluids in the items are deteriorating rapidly and have become "salt" in one of the syringes.

The testing they are seeking may determine the quantities of drugs in the items, which the cardiologist's lawyers say could be crucial information for a trial. Attorney J. Michael Flanagan told the Associated Press that he submitted a motion asking a judge to order the testing after being unable to reach an agreement with prosecutors about the testing.

No hearing date has been set, he said. Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death in June 2009 at age 50. Authorities say he gave the singer a lethal dose of sedatives, including the anesthetic propofol and painkiller lidocaine.

"We are running out of time," Flanagan said.