(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Jermaine Jackson "didn't get good vibes" from Dr. Conrad Murray when they first met.
Murray was Michael Jackson's personal physician when he passed away. The pop icon died of acute Propofol intoxication and Murray has been charged with his involuntary manslaughter. He denies the charges and his trial will start in Los Angeles today.
Michael's brother Jermaine has discussed the first time he met Murray, which was shortly after Michael died.
"The first time I saw Conrad Murray was in the hospital when Michael passed. I didn't know who he was but he just walked in the room and I didn't feel good vibes from in at all," Jermaine told BBC. "His behaviour wasn't normal he looked very shady. It was just a nightmare during that time."
When he died Michael was preparing for his This Is It series of shows in London. Footage of him rehearsing has been released and it's been claimed he was slim and tired.
Jermaine insists only some shots of his brother dancing have been seen by the public. He alleges Michael looked fine in other pieces of footage and was ready to take to the stage again.
Murray is accused of injecting Michael with Propofol, a powerful anaesthetic usually used to put surgery patients to sleep. Jermaine has alleged Michael began suffering from the effects of the drug the same month he died.
"My brother was very healthy, he was looking forward to these shows, he was ready to do these shows. Then about mid-June something took place where there was symptoms of him that we [had] never experienced [before]," Jermaine said. "Of his body being hot on one side and cold on the other, him not knowing right from left and repeating himself and being very frail and weak. These were signs of Propofol being put in him constantly, all the time."
Murray has admitted giving Michael sedatives including Propofol to help him sleep. However, his team will argue that the doses he prescribed were not enough to kill him and Jackson had been administering the drug himself.
Murray is said to be nervous ahead of the start of the trial. He's reportedly worried as Michael was such a household name. There are claims he has been struggling to eat and sleep in the run up to his time in court. If convicted he could be jailed for four years.
"With the trial beginning, Dr. Murray is having trouble eating and sleeping. Dr. Murray is deeply religious, and his faith is the one thing that seems to be sustaining him right now," a source told RadarOnline.com.
Kenny Ortega, who was choreographing the This Is It shows, is due to be the first witness today. He's likely to discuss how fit Michael was during rehearsals.
"There were days that Michael would cancel rehearsals, or show up extremely late. Deputy District Attorney David Walgren will specifically focus on a meeting that Ortega had at Michael Jackson's house on June 20, 2009, in which Dr. Murray was present. At that meeting, Kenny expressed grave concern for Michael's health. Dr. Murray's reaction during that meeting will be of particular interest to the jury," the source added.
The trial is expected to continue for the next five or six weeks. (C) Cover Media