Dead Michael Jackson Making Cameo at Doctor's Trial

Tough day for Conrad Murray's defense after a judge decides to allow autopsy pics

Get ready for a courtroom Thriller. Although Michael Jackson died two years ago, he's expected to be a major presence at his physician's manslaughter trial, a Los Angeles judge has decided.

Jurors will be shown autopsy photos of the late pop icon, as well as footage from rehearsals of his ill-fated comeback tour.

Gruesome? Depends on which side you're on...

"They're not gruesome. They're not graphic. They're not inflammatory,'' said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor today, ruling in favor of the prosecution request to show the autopsy pics.

Pastor, pointing out that one of the pics shows Jackson clothed on a gurney and another unclothed on what appears to be a coroner's exam table in which  "appropriate parts of the torso are blocked out."

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren argued that the photos would help panelists weigh the fate of Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, who stands accused of accidentally giving a fatal overdose of Propofol to the music legend, resulting in his June 25, 2009, death.

The decision came over the objections of Murray's legal team, which claimed that showing such pictures would prejudice the jury against his clients.

Murray has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors allege the cardiologist failed to follow proper medical procedures in admistering the anasthetic drug as well as properly monitoring Jackson while he was under, and then attempting cover up the wrongdoing after the fact.

Defense attorneys have vehemently objected to screening scenes of the film at trial, arguing the nature of editing may give jurors the false impression that Jackson was physically well in the days before he died.

Murray's camp insist that footage was actually shot weeks before his overdose and therefore the court should not allow it as evidence.

"The best evidence would be the rough footage, which we do not have,'' defense lawyer Nareg Gourjian told the judge.

Murray's defense is expected to argue that it was Jackson, not the doctor, who was responsible for the fatal dosage.