傑克遜死亡案再開庭 遺照及生前錄音曝光
Images of Michael Jackson lying dead in a hospital and rehearsing the day before his death, along with recollections of the singer as a troubled "lost boy," made for a heart-wrenching opening on Tuesday to the manslaughter trial of the doctor hired to care for him。
In opening arguments two years after Jackson's death by drug overdose of propofol and sedatives, prosecutor David Walgren told jurors the "Thriller" singer "literally put his life in the hands of Dr. Conrad Murray."
"That misplaced trust in the hands of Conrad Murray cost Michael Jackson his life," Walgren said。
But Murray's lawyers argued Jackson "caused his own death" by giving himself extra medication in a bid to sleep. "He died so rapidly, so instantly, he didn't even have time to close his eyes," defense attorney Ed Chernoff said in opening arguments。
Murray denies he is guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of Jackson on June 25, 2009, but admits giving the 50-year-old pop star a dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid. He faces a prison sentence of up to four years if convicted. The trial is expected to last four to six weeks。
The Texas cardiologist, who was paid $150,000 a month to care for Jackson, wiped away tears during Tuesday's opening statements as Chernoff defended him。
Jackson's lifeless body was found at his rented Los Angeles mansion just three weeks before a series of 50 planned London comeback concerts titled "This Is It" were scheduled to begin。
Kenny Ortega, the co-director of the concerts, testified that Jackson was excited about the shows because he wanted his young children to see him perform。
Walgren opened the prosecution case by showing jurors a photo of a thin Jackson lying dead on a hospital gurney. He later played video of Jackson's last performance -- an emotional rehearsal of "Earth Song" filmed on June 24, 2009.
Footage of the rehearsals was made into Jackson's posthumous concert movie "This Is It" in 2009 and it became a global box office hit。
Jackson's parents, Joe and Katherine, his sisters, Janet and La Toya, and other family members were in court on Tuesday, while outside the courtroom dozens of fans held sunflowers, pictures of the dead pop star, and placards saying "Justice for Michael."傑克遜私人醫生被控過失殺人罪一案本週二再度開庭。在庭審前，法庭公佈了傑克遜在醫院的遺照，以及去世前一天的彩排影像，勾起了人們對生前麻煩不斷的“迷失的小孩”傑克遜的回憶，令人揪心不已。
兩年前，傑克遜因服用過量異丙酚及鎮定劑去世。檢察官大衛•瓦爾格倫在開庭陳述中告訴陪審團，傑克遜“把自己的性命交給了康拉德·莫里醫生”。傑克遜曾演唱經典歌曲《顫慄》。
瓦爾格倫說：“傑克遜錯誤地信任了康拉德•莫里，丟掉了性命。”
但莫里的律師稱，傑克遜爲了入睡服用了過量藥物，他本人應該爲自己的死負責。莫里的辯護律師埃德·切諾夫在開庭陳述中說：“他走得太快，那麼匆忙，都來不及閉上眼睛。”
莫里否認自己犯下了過失殺人罪，但承認爲了幫助睡眠，曾給過50歲的傑克遜一劑強效麻醉劑異丙酚。如果罪名成立，他將面臨最多4年監禁。這場審判預計將持續4到6周。傑克遜於2009年6月25日去世。
莫里是德克薩斯的一名心臟病專家，他受僱爲傑克遜的私人醫生，月薪15萬美元。週二的開庭陳述中，辯護律師切諾夫爲他辯護時，莫里當場灑淚。
傑克遜原定在倫敦舉辦名爲《就是這樣》的50場復出演唱會，但在演唱會舉辦三週前，人們在其位於洛杉磯的租住公寓內發現了他的遺體。
演唱會的導演之一肯尼•奧特加作證時說，傑克遜對即將到來的演出非常興奮，因爲他想讓自己年幼的孩子們看他表演。
瓦爾格倫開庭時向陪審團出示了瘦弱的傑克遜躺在醫院輪牀上的照片，隨後還播放了傑克遜最後的表演錄像——2009年6月24日動人的《地球之歌》彩排。
彩排錄像在2009年製作成音樂會紀錄片《就是這樣》，並在全球熱映。
傑克遜的父親喬、母親凱瑟琳、姐姐拉託婭、妹妹珍妮以及其他家庭成員出席了週二的庭審，法庭外，數十名粉絲手捧向日葵和逝去天王的遺像，還拉着橫幅，上面寫着“爲邁克爾討回公道”。
