Jackson trial resumes

Dr Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, faces charges of involuntary manslaughter.

If convicted, he could be sentenced to four years in prison.

The prosecution has said he gave the singer the powerful anaesthetic propofol as a sleep aid, and then failed to properly monitor his patient.

Murray, 58, has admitted giving Jackson small doses of propofol, including one on the morning he died, but he denies giving the pop star the large dose that killed him.

His defence team argues that Michael Jackson self-administered the dose after taking other sedatives, a toxic mix that resulted in his death.

This week the District Attorney's team will continue to work through their witnesses.

First to give evidence will be Dr Richelle Cooper, who began her testimony last Friday.

She is the emergency room doctor who received Michael Jackson at the UCLA medical centre. She told the court that Dr Murray did not mention that he had been taking propofol.

Other witnesses who could take the stand are the LAPD homicide detectives who worked on the case, as well as Sade Anding, the Houston cocktail waitress who was on the phone with the doctor when he realised there was something wrong with Jackson.

Various forensics and drugs experts are also expected to be called.

The jury was played a voice recording of the singer on Dr Murray's phone, just weeks before his death, in which he appeared heavily sedated, slurring his words and not making much sense.

They were also shown a picture of the singer lying dead on a hospital gurney, juxtaposed with a photograph of the pop star rehearsing energetically for his planned "This Is It" comeback tour - a sold our series of 50 concerts at London's o2 arena.

The court heard powerful testimony from the show's co-director Kenny Ortega.

He wrote an email to producers just days before Jackson's death, describing him as a "lost boy" and expressing concerns about his physical and mental health.

Alberto Alvarez, Jackson's former body guard, testified that before he was instructed to call 911, Dr Conrad Murray asked him to clear away vials of drugs from the singer's bedroom, including and IV bag which appeared to have a bottle of propofol inside it.

He also painted a dramatic picture of a desperate scene as the doctor tried to revive Jackson, describing how the pop star's two eldest children Prince, 12 at the time, and Paris, 11, cried as they watched their apparently lifeless father lying on the bed.

Paramedic Richard Senneff told the court that Dr Conrad Murray never mentioned that the singer had taken propofol, and that he had initially denied that Jackson had taken any other drugs at all, or had any other underlying health conditions.

Faced with an extremely thin patient surrounded by medical equipment and his own personal doctor, Senneff said that the information he was getting from Dr Murray simply "didn't add up."

Michael Jackson's family, including parents Joe and Katherine and sisters Janet and La Toya, have been attending court every day and have vowed to be at the trial until it ends.