Prosecutors intent on putting Michael Jackson's physician behind bars for administering the anaesthetic that killed the singer have urged the judge overseeing the upcoming manslaughter trial to ban the testimony of the singer's other doctors.
They claim doctors that were also treating Jackson up to his death in June, 2009, bear no relevance to the trial.
Dr. Conrad Murray's defence lawyers maintain their client was one of many medics who prescribed drugs to Jackson and any one of them could be responsible for the dead star's apparent addiction to painkillers and powerful anaesthetics.
Prosecutors have also asked Judge Michael Pastor to block testimony related to Jackson's 2005 child molestation trial in Santa Barbara, California.
TMZ.com reports suggest Steve Robel, a Santa Barbara County Sheriff's investigator at the molestation trial, is on the defence team's witness list.
The prosecutors insist the 2005 trial has no relevance to Jackson's death.
Meanwhile, Judge Pastor has denied a request by Dr. Murray's defence team to sequester the jury members during the manslaughter trial, which is scheduled to begin next month (Sep11).
The medic's lawyers feared the panel would be swayed by the constant commentary on the case in between court appearances, but, at a hearing on Thursday (25Aug11), the judge stated he was confident jurors will heed his warnings to avoid the television coverage of proceedings.
He said, "I expect that the jurors will follow the high road and that means that they will not be in the receipt of or in contact with information regarding this case outside the courtroom."
Jury selection will begin on 8 September.
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