Conrad Murray trial begins over Michael Jackson’s death
The shadow of a Michael Jackson impersonator from China is cast as he performs for thousands of fans gathered outside the Saga Cinema in Beijing on October 27, 2009.
The trial of Michael Jackson's personal doctor, Conrad Murray, began in Los Angeles Tuesday. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and pleads not guilt.
Prosecutors argue that Murray failed to properly safeguard the pop singer and that he acted carelessly when he administered to Jackson an anesthetic usually reserved for surgeries, The New York Times reports. Murray allegedly sent text messages and talked on his mobile phone as he delivered the anesthetic, propofol.
More from GlobalPost: Michael Jackson lives. In Beijing.
"What we expect the evidence to show is that Conrad Murray repeatedly acted with gross negligence, repeatedly denied appropriate care to his patient, Michael Jackson," prosecutor David Walgren told the court Tuesday, according to BBC. "That misplaced trust […] cost Michael Jackson his life."
Jackson used the anesthetic to battle insomnia, and medical experts are expected to argue throughout the trial how he came to overdose on it, the Telegraph reports.
Murray's lawyers argue that Jackson swallowed an extra dose of the anesthetic when the doctor was out of the room.
If convicted, Murray, who was paid $150,000 a month by the singer, could face four years in jail and the loss of his medical license, BBC reports.
Hundreds of fans gathered outside the courthouse before the trial began, it states.
Jackson died June 25, 2009.
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