Los Angeles has not seen a trial like this since O.J. Simpson’s murder trial in the 1990s, and the cameras are ready to roll. By Monday evening, 15 satellite trucks and news vans were parked within a block of the courthouse.
In an effort to calm what is already expected to be a media circus, Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor has limited what Murray’s lawyers can say about Jackson’s history with drugs and his financial troubles.
Prosecutors are similarly prohibited from mentioning some of the messy details of the doctor’s personal life, including his sizable debts and several mistresses.
If prosecutors follow the same script they employed during Murray’s preliminary hearing, the early part of the case will likely move in chronological order, beginning with Jackson’s final days and then moving into his final hours. After the singer’s security guards, paramedics and emergency room doctors take the stand, the case will then move into more forensic and scientific territory.
The trial is expected to last about a month.
