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Did Michael Jackson Kill Himself?

ByLUCHINA FISHER and ROB NELSON
January 03, 2011, 2:17 PM

Jan. 3, 2011— -- Conrad Murray, the physician charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson, is headed back to court, and this time he's expected to argue that the singer was responsible for his own death.

Tuesday's preliminary hearing is expected to be a spectacle. Jackson's eldest son, Prince Michael, may testify as early as Tuesday, Radaronline reported Sunday.

The 13-year-old's testimony, which may reveal what he saw during his father's last days, could be crucial to Murray's defense.

"Dr. Murray has no desire to portray Michael Jackson as anything but a saint, OK? But Dr. Murray's on trial for his life," his attorney, Ed Chernoff, told ABC News. "And the facts have to come out and they have to come out clearly."

Murray, who was treating Jackson for insomnia and was at the singer's bedside when he died in June 2009, is accused of giving Jackson a deadly amount of the anesthesia drug propofol to help him sleep.

But Murray's legal team intends to argue that it was Jackson himself who administered the fatal dose when the doctor was out of the room.

The doctor's legal team was granted a request in August to re-test fluid samples from Jackson to determine the accuracy level of the propofol found in his body.

"I have done all I could do," Murray told reporters last year. "I told the truth. And I have faith the truth will prevail."

Murray pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in February and has been free on $75,000 bail.

The cardiologist has continued to work in Houston and Las Vegas, where he maintains practices. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled last summer that Murray could continue to practice medicine in California, despite a request by state authorities to bar him from practicing.

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