Michael Jackson Manslaughter Hearing Delayed
Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson‘s personal physician at the time of his death, will not face the involuntary manslaughter charges related to Jackson’s death until next year. The judge overseeing the trial pushed the preliminary hearing to January 4th, 2011 because some witnesses are unavailable, and because the investigation is still ongoing, Reuters reports. At the hearing, both sides will present their evidence, and the judge will decide whether to give Murray a full-scale trial. Jackson’s death, by “acute propofol intoxication,” was has already been ruled a homicide.
Look back at Michael Jackson’s life in photos.
At a hearing attended yesterday by Michael’s parents, Joe and Katherine Jackson, two-dozen Jackson fans billing themselves “Justice for MJ” stood outside the courthouse with banners demanding that Murray be charged with murder. Murray is accused of giving Jackson a combination of the powerful anesthetic propofol and other sedatives, which caused Jackson to go into fatal cardiac arrest. Murray and his lawyers will reportedly argue that Jackson self-administered the deadly propofol dose when Murray left the room. Yesterday, Murray’s defense team asked for permission to retest three samples from syringes and an intravenous drip found at the scene of Jackson’s death.