Deidah Dereon: Michael Jackson's Death Photo Released

Michael Jackson's Death Photo Released

Michael Jackson's death photo was released in court today during the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. The picture appeared in the ABC News cast.

Just days before Michael Jackson died, the alarmed director of his comeback tour confronted Dr. Conrad Murray about the star’s health, saying the king of pop was incoherent at times and unable to rehearse.

The testimony of Kenny Ortega, the co-director of Jackson’s “This Is It” tour, was as startling as the opening statements by the prosecution and Murray’s attorney.
Just minutes into his opening, prosecutor David Walgren showed the courtroom of photo of a ghostly Jackson lying dead in a hospital bed, draped by a hospital gown. He also played a tape of a conversation with Jackson in which the drugged-up singer slurred his words so badly the prosecutors had to run captions on the screen so jurors could understand what Jackson was saying.

Murray’s attorney Ed Chernoff, told the court in his opening that Murray isn’t to blame for Jackson’s death, that Jackson gave himself a dose of drugs that killed him so quickly Jackson “didn’t even have time to close his eyes.”