Jury hears Michael Jackson ‘under influence’

They also saw a photograph of his pale body lying on a trolley after he died from an overdose of an anaesthetic.

The sounds and image were just part of the multimedia presentation that prosecutors presented during opening statements at the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr Conrad Murray yesterday.

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren described Jackson as “highly under the influence” when speaking with Dr Murray in May 2009, roughly six weeks before his death.

The singer is heard slurring his words and is barely audible, saying he wanted to impress those who watched his upcoming comeback concerts.

“When people leave my show, I want them to say: ‘I’ve never seen nothing like this in my life’,” the voice on the recording says.

On 25 June 2009, Jackson died of an overdose of the powerful anaesthetic propofol.

Mr Walgren told jurors: “What happened during that time frame is that the acts and omissions of Michael Jackson’s personal doctor Conrad Murray directly led to his premature death at age 50.”

He said Jackson trusted Dr Murray as his physician.

“That misplaced trust in Conrad Murray cost Michael Jackson his life,” Mr Walgren said.

“He left him there, abandoned him to fend for himself,” the prosecutor said later while winding down his opening remarks.

Mr Walgren also provided details on shipments of propofol sent to Dr Murray, saying the physician was sent more than four gallons of the anaesthetic in the time he worked for Jackson.

The doctor had initially requested $5 million to work for the singer for a year, but accepted the lower rate of $150,000 a month, Mr Walgren said. His contract to be Jackson’s personal physician was never signed and he was never paid.

He told jurors that Dr Murray deceived paramedics and emergency room doctors by not telling them he had been giving Jackson propofol as a sleep aid.

He also called the doctor inept and said he repeatedly deviated from the standard of care by leaving the singer alone while under sedation and not immediately calling emergency services when he found the singer was unconscious.

Dr Murray never called for emergency services himself, instead waiting more than 20 minutes to have one of Jackson’s bodyguards make the call.

“Basic common sense requires 911 be called immediately,” Mr Walgren said, referring to the emergency services number in the US. “Basic common sense. And we know that was not done.”

Testimony was expected to begin last night, with prosecutors planning to call the superstar’s friend and choreographer, Kenny Ortega.

A number of Jackson’s family members were in the courthouse for the trial, including his father Joseph, mother Katherine, sisters La Toya and Janet, and brothers Jermaine, Randy and Tito.

Dr Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter, and he and his attorneys have denied he gave Jackson anything that should have killed the superstar.

Proceedings will be televised and broadcast online. More than a dozen satellite trucks and news vans were parked within a block of the courthouse.

Much of the testimony will focus on propofol, which is normally administered in hospitals. Authorities contend that Dr Murray administered a lethal dose of the drug along with other sedatives, and lacked the proper lifesaving equipment to revive Jackson.

Defence attorneys will present an alternate theory: that Jackson ingested or somehow gave himself the fatal dose.

While much is known about Jackson’s death, the trial will reveal new information and provide a detailed record of the singer’s final hours.

Dr Murray’s trial is expected to be the first time that the public hears, in the defendant’s own words, his account of what happened in the bedroom of Jackson’s rented mansion.

Mr Ortega testified at a hearing earlier this year that Dr Murray warned him not to try to act as Jackson’s physician or psychiatrist after Mr Ortega sent the singer home from rehearsals for his final concerts because he appeared to be sick.