Conrad Murray flashes the V sign as he arrives for court hearing.
By Nicola Pittam Mar 3, 2011, 23:51 GMT
Michael Jackson's former doctor Conrad Murray raised eyebrows as he arrived for a court appearance – and flashed the V sign at the waiting press.
It was unclear whether Murray meant to flash the peace sign – or the rude two-finger gesture – as he entered the Los Angeles downtown courthouse.
His gesture was eerily reminiscent of the time the King of Pop flashed the actual peace sign as he left a Santa Maria courthouse while facing child-molestation charges.Murray attended court in LA yesterday for a pre-trial hearing and was on hand as a judge delayed the start of the actual trial.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael E Pastor said prospective jurors are due at the downtown courthouse on 24 March, as initially scheduled, to fill out questionnaires in the trial of Murray. But he pushed back opening statements – which had tentatively been set for 5 April – to 9 May.
The judge noted that material about prospective witnesses is still being exchanged between lawyers, and said: "I think this is a very realistic view of the case. We're going to have a lot of work to do between now and then."
Murray, 58, is charged with a felony count of involuntary manslaughter stemming from Jackson's death at the age of 50, in 2009. He is accused of administering the powerful anesthetic propofol to the singer to help him sleep, then failing to properly monitor him thereafter.
Jackson, who was in LA at the time rehearsing for an upcoming series of sold-out concerts in London, was pronounced dead at 2.26pm on 25 June 2009, after doctors at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre were unable to revive him.
Paramedics who responded to an emergency call from the music legend's rented Holmby Hills estate about two hours earlier said that Jackson appeared to have already been dead for between 20 minutes to an hour.
Murray, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, proclaimed himself "an innocent man" during a 25 January court appearance, two weeks after he was ordered to stand trial following a six-day preliminary hearing.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/peopl ... rt-hearing