LOS ANGELES — To hear lawyers for Michael Jackson’s physician tell it, the pop star lived his last days in a state of physical and financial desperation. Hooked on Demerol and starved for sleep, he worried constantly about a comeback attempt that offered him one last chance to pay off his mountain of debt and reclaim a place in the music industry, the lawyers have said.
It’s a portrayal that attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray say is vital to understanding what led to Jackson’s death, but after a series of court rulings Monday, it is unlikely to be heard by jurors at the doctor’s upcoming involuntary-manslaughter trial.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor excluded the testimony of more than a dozen defense witnesses, including Jackson’s longtime dermatologist, his business manager and the nanny for his three children.
The defense had hoped the testimony of these Jackson confidants and other insiders would convince a jury that the singer was so drug-addled and experiencing so much pressure to perform that he accidentally overdosed on a surgical anesthetic. But the judge said these witnesses, some of whose accounts of Jackson’s drug use went back two decades, would confuse jurors.
“Discussions of these subject matters are sufficiently convoluted, distracting and detracting as to substantially outweigh any probative value whatsoever,” Pastor said.
It was the second major setback for Murray’s defense strategy. The judge barred his lawyers in April from delving into the singer’s profound money problems. He said that evidence threatened to turn what should be a focused trial into a “battle of accountants” and “a salacious analysis of personal financial issues.”
A lawyer for Murray said the defense planned to file a motion later this week asking the judge to reconsider.
Jury selection in Murray’s trial begins Sept. 8 with testimony starting at the end of the month.
Also Monday, Janet Jackson said she won’t attend a planned tribute concert for her older brother in Wales because the show coincides with Murray’s trial, The Associated Press reported.
Organizers of “Michael Forever — The Tribute Concert” have struggled to line up top-name acts and have been criticized by fans and the late singer’s estate for multiple reasons, including its costly tickets, timing and remote location.
The show is scheduled for Oct. 8 in Cardiff, Wales, and the singer’s mother, Katherine, and some of her children are scheduled to attend.
Monday would have been Michael Jackson’s 53rd birthday.
