Prosecutors and defense lawyers will present closing arguments Thursday at the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, after five weeks of testimony heavily implicating him in the star's 2009 death.
Prosecutor David Walgren, generally seen as having done a masterful job in pinning the death on Conrad Murray, will summarize his arguments as to why the medic should be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Murray's defense lawyer Ed Chernoff will then take the floor for the daunting task of convincing the seven-man, five-woman jury that Jackson was a desperate drug addict who effectively caused his own death.
The 58-year-old doctor announced on Tuesday that he would not take the stand in his own defense at the Los Angeles Superior Court, where he has been on trial since September 27.
After the closing arguments members of the jury -- who have sat through more than five weeks of sometimes harrowing, sometimes bafflingly technical testimony -- will retire to consider their verdict.
Murray faces up to four years in jail and could lose his medical licenses if -- as is widely expected -- he is found guilty of Jackson's death at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009, as the star was preparing for an ill-fated comeback tour.
Jackson died of "acute propofol intoxication" at his rented mansion in the plush Holmby Hills district outside Los Angeles, where he was rehearsing for an ill-fated series of comeback concerts in London.
The prosecution claims that Murray, being paid $150,000 (105,000 euros) a month to look after Jackson, killed the star by administering a deadly cocktail of drugs to help him sleep and then abandoning him at a crucial moment.
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