Michael Jackson's Doctor to Stand Trial March 24

A judge Monday pushed up the trial date for Michael Jackson's personal physician by four days, saying he expects the first panel of potential jurors to be brought in March 24 in the doctor's involuntary manslaughter case.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael E. Pastor vacated the March 28 trial date set at an earlier hearing, saying he did not realize at the time that it was the last possible date that Dr. Conrad Murray could go to trial in connection with the singer's June 2009 death.

Murray was ordered Jan. 11 to stand trial on the felony charge, with Pastor ruling there was sufficient evidence to require him to proceed to trial after a six-day preliminary hearing in which the prosecution called 22 witnesses.

Murray is accused of administering the powerful anesthetic propofol to to the singer to help him sleep, then failing to properly monitor him.

Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. on June 25, 2009, at age 50, after doctors at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center unsuccessfully tried to revive him. Paramedics who responded to the entertainer's rented Holmby Hills estate about two hours earlier said he appeared to have been dead for 20 minutes to an hour.

Also today, the judge said he is prepared to allow television coverage of the upcoming trial including opening statements, the presentation of evidence, closing arguments and any verdict. But he said he wants to be satisfied that certain conditions are met, including the "absolute least intrusive placement'' of a TV camera in the courtroom.

City News Service was used to compile this report.

Follow Westwood-Century City Patch on Facebook and Twitter.