Defense lawyers in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor want to shield jurors from commentary by Nancy Grace, the former prosecutor who now hosts a daily show on the HLN network.
Daily commentary by Grace and others during the Casey Anthony trial this summer was "like a final argument by the prosecution," Dr. Conrad Murray's lawyer, Michael Flanagan, said Wednesday.
While the defense has not decided whether to ask that the jury in the Murray trial be sequestered, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor hinted at a hearing Wednesday he does not think it would be necessary.
Flanagan predicted media coverage of the trial of Murray, charged with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death, will be bigger than the wall-to-wall coverage of the Anthony case that just ended in Florida.
"How many final arguments do we have to face in this case?" Flanagan asked. "Are we going to face the one in the courtroom and the one when they go home?"
Grace addressed the issue Wednesday during her eponymous show.
"The doctor charged in the death of music superstar Michael Jackson, killing him allegedly with a powerful propofol anesthesia, wants the jury sequestered, from me! From US!" she said. "Claiming watching 'Nancy Grace' will prevent a fair trial; that the jury will be biased. So I guess that makes us, umm ... the good guys!"
