While it is Dr. Conrad Murray, who will be on trial when
attorneys begin selecting a panel on Thursday, the "Thriller"
singer's infamy will loom large over the proceedings.
Jackson was one of the world's most recognizable singers,
dubbed the King of Pop, when he died in June 2009, at age 50. He also was known
to have battled an addiction to painkillers, and Murray's attorneys had hoped
to present evidence of his past drug use at the trial.
But in an obstacle for the defense, Los Angeles Superior
Court Judge Michael Pastor barred testimony from a half-dozen doctors whom
Murray's attorneys had indicated in court papers would portray Jackson as
drug-dependent.
"The deck is, for various reasons, stacked against the
defense here," said Stan Goldman, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los
Angeles.
Jackson stopped breathing at his Los Angeles mansion on June
25, 2009, in what authorities say was an overdose of the powerful anesthetic
propofol and various sedatives.
Murray, who pleaded not guilty to the charge of involuntary
manslaughter, has admitted giving Jackson propofol, a drug normally used for
surgery, as a sleep aid.
During a series of court hearings earlier this year defense
attorneys suggested that when Murray was out of the room, Jackson could have
given himself a large, fatal dose of the drug, possibly by swallowing it.
Murray faces up to four years in prison if convicted.
As for choosing an impartial jury, legal experts say it will
be impossible to find anyone who knows nothing of Jackson. Some will adore him,
while others will abhor him. So attorneys will have to work to find the most
unbiased jury possible under the circumstances.
"It's going to be like a Ouija board, it's going to be
guess work," Goldman said.
After a jury panel is selected, the trial will be recessed
until opening arguments begin the last week of September.
Jackson's family has faithfully attended all the court
hearings in the case, with his mother, Katherine, 81, often sitting with his
father, Joseph, 83.
