Conrad Murray Trial

Dr. Conrad Murray's attorney Ed Chernoff told the jury Michael Jackson caused his own death.

* Chernoff says the evidence will show MJ swallowed 8, 2 mg pills of Lorazepam.
* And Chernoff says MJ self-injected a dose or Propofol that created a "perfect storm" that killed him.
* There was no way to save MJ. He died instantly.
* Chernoff told the jury what TMZ has reported for the last year -- that the centerpiece of the defense case is that Michael's death is on Michael -- not Dr. Murray.
* Chernoff also said MJ "had a problem" that no amount of determination could overcome, even with his talent, and without help he could not do the "This Is It" tour -- a tour that would score him more money than he had ever made on tour before.
* So, Chernoff says, Michael went doctor shopping.
* Dr. Murray is not a "celebrity doctor" -- he's a cardiologist who saves lives.
* The defense will put some of Dr. Murray's patients on the stand to show his level of care. He would buy prescriptions for people who couldn't afford it and would generally go well above the standard of care expected of a doctor -- which contradicts prosecutors who call him greedy and reckless. Murray seemed to tear up as he listened to Chernoff.

It seems the prosecution wanted to give the Michael Jackson death photo a murky, gritty treatment before it was presented in court this morning -- because it was clearly touched up to look as daunting as possible.

It appears the photo is NOT the original pic -- because now it includes a tattered border, a morgue-esque green hue ... and the word "Homicide" printed over MJ's body in a grainy, police-style font.

The prosecution used the photo as the background for a slide-show presentation in court.

Compare the pic to a cleaned up version of the photo (below) -- is the murky photo more likely to shake the jury?

We gotta ask ...

Prosecutor David Walgren delivered an opening statement, using a graphic of what appears to be Michael Jackson's body on a gurney.

* Michael Jackson trusted his life to the medical skills of Dr. Murray and it was "misplaced trust"
* The cause of death was an overdose of Propofol, administered by Dr. Murray
* We will prove Conrad Murray repeatedly acted with gross negligence and incompetence
* Walgren explained that Murray would obtain $150,000 a month, not the $5 million Murray demanded for the duration of the "This is It" tour.
* Murray made arrangements with a pharmacy to purchase very large quantities of Propofol on a regular basis
* Murray lied to the pharmacist by saying he had a clinic in Santa Monica when he did not
* On May 10, 2009, Murray made a voice recording on his iPhone ... the recording documents MJ highly under the influence of "unknown agents" with Murray sitting there. It shows Murray knew Michael's state and what he was doing to the singer

It begins ... Dr. Conrad Murray just rolled up to the L.A. criminal courthouse with his massive entourage, looking sedate in a gray pinstripe suit.

Katherine, Joe, and Jermaine Jackson arrived moments later. All that's missing is a red carpet.

Opening statements kick off around 8:30 AM.

9:30 AM: Janet Jackson also arrived to court, alongside her brother Randy. LaToya arrived soon after, holding a flower.

Michael Jackson's eldest son Prince -- an eyewitness to the horrific scene in the bedroom where his father lost his life -- does not want to testify in the Conrad Murray trial, but he's telling family he'll do what needs to be done to get justice for his departed dad.

Sources close to Prince tell TMZ ... the 14-year-old is "nervous" and worried that if he's called to the stand he might get flustered and "mess up."

We're told if Prince is called by prosecutors ... Katherine will ask her lawyers to request that the entire courtroom be cleared during his testimony. Judge Michael Pastor almost certainly will prohibit the media from training a camera on Prince, but it's unlikely he'll clear the courtroom.

As we previously reported, Prince is on the prosecution's witness list, since Dr. Murray summoned Prince to the bedroom for help during the emergency. When Prince arrived, he dissolved into tears.

The trial starts today. We'll be livestreaming opening statements.

TMZ has obtained the questionnaires from the jurors who were selected to sit in judgement of Dr. Conrad Murray in the Michael Jackson manslaughter case. Here are some highlights.

Juror #127 Mexican-American female, 54 years old, property manager, she has a daughter who was an alcohol and drug user 5 years ago, and she thinks famous people -- notably Paris, Britney and Lindsay -- are treated differently in court. She loved MJ's music as a girl.

Juror #145 White male, 45, partner in management consulting firm, wife is pediatric nurse at a hospital, he's served twice on a jury before (murder and rape cases), watched "This is It" on Netflix.

Juror #61 White female, 57, unemployed, worked in past for Red Cross, divorced, listens to NPR, followed the OJ Simpson cases, her younger brother uses drugs, served 5 times on a jury.

Juror #70 White male, 54, college professor of animation and art, created characters for motion pictures at Disney, followed OJ trial, convicted of DUI, thinks celebs are not treated the same by police and can bend rules. MJ fan.

Juror #44 Cuban/Mexican-White, watches History Channel, "Pawn Stars," "Sons of Anarchy" and "Modern Family," listens to Howard Stern, family members with alcohol addiction, served on a civil jury, fan of MJ, especially "Thriller."

The twelve people who will decide Dr. Conrad Murray's fate have been chosen.

A jury of seven men and five women was selected out of 84 prospective jurors in Michael Jackson's manslaughter trial. The selection process began more than 2 weeks ago.

Prosecutors in the Michael Jackson manslaughter case want the jury to hear evidence that authorities tried in vain to get in touch with Dr. Conrad Murray to figure out how Michael Jackson died, and his refusal to cooperate is evidence of a guilty heart.

Prosecutors say both the LAPD and the L.A. County Coroner tried on 4 separate occasions -- from June 30, 2009 - July 21, 2009 -- to contact Murray but never received a return call.

By falling off the radar, prosecutors believe it shows a consciousness of guilt and they want this evidence before the jury.

Some Michael Jackson fans who want to see their brand of justice meted out against Dr. Conrad Murray just got a stern warning from the judge's staff -- they'll be thrown out of court if they don't shape up.

Dr. Murray was in court today on some pretrial matters. At one point the lawyers and Judge Michael Pastor went into chambers for a chit chat. While they were gone, some MJ fans were staring Murray down and giving him dirty looks.

Lawyers for Dr. Conrad Murray want to show jurors just how worn down Michael Jackson was in the weeks leading up to his death -- and their proof ... MJ's blowout announcement for the "This Is It" concerts.

MJ held the news conference on March 5, 2009 ... announcing he would perform his last 10 concerts ever in London that summer ... insisting, "When I say this is it, it really means this is it."

Murray's defense team filed legal docs, claiming the video shows Jackson was rapidly deteriorating, both mentally and physically, when he made the announcement. They're asking the judge for permission to show jurors the video, to prove Michael was literally on his last leg ... several months before his death.

Bizarre -- a pharmacist who testified he shipped MASSIVE amounts of Propofol to Dr. Conrad Murray in the weeks leading to Michael Jackson's death has disappeared without a trace, prosecutors claim.

According to prosecutors, Tim Lopez -- a former pharmacist at Applied Pharmacy Services in Las Vegas -- has mysteriously moved to Thailand and cannot be found.

Prosecutors now want a judge to let them use Lopez' previous testimony from the preliminary hearing in January -- when he claimed Dr. Murray ordered several large quantities of Propofol, beginning on April 6, 2009.

A jury is about to be selected in the Conrad Murray manslaughter trial. Two years have passed since Michael Jackson's death, and we now know a lot -- but not everything -- about what happened on June 25, 2009. So, on the eve of the trial, we gotta ask:

Dr. Conrad Murray's legal team failed again in its attempt to sequester the jury in the Michael Jackson manslaughter case.

A California appeals court just ruled ... the trial judge -- Michael Pastor -- did not abuse his discretion when he decided not to sequester the jury.

The latest decision is no surprise -- appeals courts don't micro trial judges.

A prosecution witness will testify ... Dr. Conrad Murray committed "multiple egregious and unconscionable violations" in his treatment of Michael Jackson the day he died ... this according to documents obtained by TMZ.

Prosecutors filed the document because they want to shoot down the defense theory that MJ may have orally ingested the fatal dose of Propofol.

According to Dr. Steven Shafer, "There is a zero possibility that the propofol was orally ingested."

Dr. Shafer believes, "There is almost nothing in Murray's care of Michael Jackson that reflected the actions of a trained physician."

Judge Michael Pastor has not ruled on whether Dr. Shafer is qualified to testify about the oral ingestion of Propofol.

Dr. Conrad Murray's lawyers want to ban a prosecution medical expert from testifying that ingesting Propofol would not trigger a fatal reaction.

TMZ broke the story months ago ... the defense will argue ... a frustrated Michael Jackson accidentally killed himself by either ingesting or injecting himself with a fatal dose of Propofol when Dr. Murray left the room.

Prosecutors intend to call Dr. Steven Shafer, who embraces two studies which allegedly conclude a patient can't die from orally ingesting the drug.

In one of the studies, 6 Chilean students volunteered to drink Propofol -- and they survived just fine.

Another study produced the same results, but the patients were pigs -- real pigs.

Dr. Murray's team claims the studies are hearsay, because Dr. Schafer wasn't part of the tests.

A judge has ruled that witnesses will NOT be allowed to discuss Michael Jackson's child molestation case during Dr. Conrad Murray's manslaughter trial.

L.A. County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said any testimony relating to the molestation case is irrelevant -- and would be distracting and misleading to the jury.