Trial won't feature unreleased Jackson footage

Criminal Law

Jurors in the Michael Jackson manslaughter case will not watch previously unseen footage from the singer's final rehearsals to determine the state of his health before his death, a judge ruled Monday.

Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor agreed with the characterization of a defense attorney for Dr. Conrad Murray that more than 100 hours of rehearsal footage condensed into the film "This Is It" did not show the singer in poor health.

Pastor also agreed with attorneys for Sony Pictures Entertainment that the clips have significant value and should not be publicly shown without a good reason.

"There is absolutely nothing in those materials that could have been of assistance to the defense," Pastor said.

The judge reviewed several hours of the footage last week then canceled plans to travel to Sony Studios over the weekend to finish watching the rest of the film that attorneys wanted to use during the upcoming trial of Murray.

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