According to this article from the LA Times from March 24, 2011The response when the purported juror's questionnaire was "posted by TMZ" during the FIRST jury selection.L.A. NOW
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Michael Jackson case: Judge blasts ‘bogus’ information about sealed jury questionnaire
March 24, 2011 | 9:38 am [This post has been corrected. See note below for details.]
The judge presiding over the trial of Michael Jackson's personal physician blasted a website Thursday for posting what he described as "bogus" information about a questionnaire prospective jurors are filling out.
In an apparent reference to a TMZ.com article that purported to detail questions proposed by Dr. Conrad Murray's defense, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said, "Not one of the questions from that questionnaire posted online is part of this court's questionnaire."The judge had earlier ordered the questionnaire sealed until after the entire jury pool completed it and said he was worried that the TMZ story and a "tongue-in-cheek" questionnaire posted on a second website might affect the answers prospective panelists provide.
About 160 potential jurors were sworn in Thursday morning, marking the official start of Murray's trial. The cardiologist is accused of involuntary manslaughter for allegedly giving the pop star a fatal dose of the surgical anesthetic propofol. Murray's defense contends that Jackson administered the drug himself.
Testimony in the case is scheduled to get underway next month.
[For the record, 11:47 a.m.: A previous version of the post incorrectly implied that the questionnaire was sealed by the judge Thursday.]
-- Harriet Ryan at Los Angeles County Superior Court
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And then later that day...
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Michael Jackson's physician fires publicist for leaking jury selection information
March 24, 2011 | 4:37 pm On the first day of his trial,
Michael Jackson’s personal physician fired his publicist for leaking jury selection information to a celebrity gossip website.On Wednesday, TMZ.com had posted what purported to be proposed defense questions for potential jurors, a leak that Dr. Conrad Murray’s attorney acknowledged came from their own publicist. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said the questions were “bogus” but that he was concerned about how information on the Internet would affect the answers potential jurors give during jury selection.
Murray is accused of involuntary manslaughter for giving Jackson a fatal dose of the surgical anesthetic propofol.
Defense attorneys told Pastor in chambers that a media company hired by the defense had leaked six questions the company had suggested for the jury pool. None of the questions ended up in the final questionnaire, which Pastor earlier ordered sealed.
“It is an embarrassment,” Ed Chernoff, Murray’s attorney, told the judge. Chernoff apologized and said the company would be fired.
After the hearing, Chernoff confirmed that the employee was Miranda Sevcik, a Houston publicist who began working for Murray and his legal team two days after Jackson’s death.
Sevcik declined to comment, beyond wishing the defense well.
On Thursday, 159 potential jurors were sworn in and screened for financial hardship. Jury selection is expected to continue Friday. Testimony in the case is scheduled to begin in May.
--Harriet Ryan and Victoria Kim
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