Judge: Trial is taking too long

The judge apologized to jurors Friday for delays in the trial before releasing them for the weekend.

"We are past the date I told you your services would be over," Judge Michael Pastor said. "But I know all of you understand that things happen in cases... I recognize the sacrifices you're making. So please continue to hang in there and enjoy your weekend."

During a chambers meeting with lawyers on Thursday, prosecutor David Walgren asked the judge for more time to consider new evidence submitted by the defense. The evidence includes new simulations from defense expert Dr. Paul White, which show the possible effects of the drugs that were in Michael Jackson's system the day he died.

Walgren called the graphs of the new simulations, "hieroglyphics."

Judge Pastor acknowledged Walgren's concerns, but said he's worried about changing the schedule because the jurors have lives and commitments outside of the trial. Walgren said that losing jurors to scheduling conflicts is a risk the state is prepared to take.

Judge Pastor granted the state to begin their cross examination of Dr. White on Monday, giving them the weekend to examine the new defense evidence.

Once Dr. White's testimony is concluded, we expect that the defense will rest. After the defense rests, the prosecution will likely present some sort of rebuttal case.

If things go more quickly than anticipated, closings in the trial could still be Monday. That scenario, however, now seems remote.

If testimony continues into or concludes on Monday – which is certainly possible – then closings in the case could be Tuesday.

But it's also possible that Tuesday could be a dark day, to give the attorneys time to prepare their closing arguments. If that happens, then closings would be delivered on Wednesday.

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