Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

The judge in the trial of Michael Jackson's personal physician said today that he thinks both sides should be allowed next week to review raw footage of the singer's rehearsals in the days before his death in June 2009.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said he believes the prosecution ``should be part of that' when Dr. Conrad Murray's attorneys view the audiovisual recordings of Jackson taken during rehearsals between June 15, 2009, and June 24, 2009 -- the day before his death.

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said the prosecution ``would want to view these materials as well.'

One of Murray's attorneys, Nareg Gourjian, told the judge that the defense objected to prosecutors being present as the raw footage is reviewed at a location to be designated by Sony Pictures Entertainment.

``They're not a party to the subpoena,' Gourjian said of prosecutors defense's request to examine raw footage from Jackson's rehearsals.

But the judge said he believed it would be a ``monumental waste of time' if the defense reviewed the materials and the prosecution had to go later to review the same materials.

The defense asked to review the raw footage after the judge agreed in April to allow the prosecution to show jurors clips of Jackson rehearsing ``The Way You Make Me Feel' on June 23, 2009, and ``Earth Song' on June 24, 2009.

Murray's attorneys contended that the clips -- which were featured in the documentary ``This Is It' that was released after Jackson's death -- had been edited and could give the jury a misleading impression.

Jackson died on June 25, 2009, of propofol intoxication.

Murray, 58, is accused of administering the powerful anesthetic to the singer to help him fall asleep, then failing to properly monitor him.

But the defense has suggested that Jackson could have given himself a larger dose of propofol while the doctor was out of the singer's bedroom in a rented Holmby Hills estate.

Murray's trial on a felony count of involuntary manslaughter stemming from Jackson's death is tentatively set to begin Sept. 8, but Walgren suggested that the prosecution may ask for a delay of about three weeks.

The judge said that he would consider the issue at a July 12 hearing if the prosecution files a motion asking for a delay, and that he wanted Murray to be on hand for that hearing.