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Michael Jackson Doctor Pleads Not Guilty To Involuntary Manslaughter

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Conrad Murray’s trial slated to start March 28. By Gil Kaufman Dr. Conrad Murray appears in court on Tuesday in Los Angeles, California Photo: Irfan Khan-Pool/ Getty Images Michael Jackson’s former personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray entered a plea of not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in the June 2009 death of the pop star at his arraignment on Tuesday morning (January 25). According to the Los Angeles Times, when asked by judge Michael Pastor how he pleaded to the charge, Murray said, “Your honor, I am an innocent man.” When Pastor interrupted and asked Murray what his plea was, the cardiologist said, “Therefore, I plead not guilty.” The brief hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court ended with Pastor setting a March 28 date for the start of a trial in the case. Murray faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted, and the Times noted that he surprised the judge by invoking his right to a speedy trial, which meant the case would have to begin by late March. Pastor noted the rarity of a defendant asking to have a speedy trial, then set jury selection for the week of March 28 and said he was inclined to allow television coverage of the trial that the defense expects will last two months. Lawyers for Murray have maintained his innocence all along, saying he did not do anything that “should have” caused the 50-year-old pop icon’s death. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office determined that Jackson died of an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol mixed with a cocktail of other sedatives. Murray has admitted to administering propofol to Jackson in the hours before the singer’s death, but the defense appears to be gearing up to claim that it was Jackson who administered the final, fatal dose of the drug after he woke in a panic from a fitful night of sleep. During a preliminary hearing earlier this month to determine if there was enough evidence to hold Murray over for trial, the physician’s attorneys said that there was evidence Jackson injected or drank a fatal amount of the drug when the doctor was not looking. Related Photos Michael Jackson: A Life In Photos Related Artists Michael Jackson

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Michael Jackson Doctor Pleads Not Guilty To Involuntary Manslaughter

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Conrad Murray’s trial slated to start March 28. By Gil Kaufman Dr. Conrad Murray appears in court on Tuesday in Los Angeles, California Photo: Irfan Khan-Pool/ Getty Images Michael Jackson’s former personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray entered a plea of not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in the June 2009 death of the pop star at his arraignment on Tuesday morning (January 25). According to the Los Angeles Times, when asked by judge Michael Pastor how he pleaded to the charge, Murray said, “Your honor, I am an innocent man.” When Pastor interrupted and asked Murray what his plea was, the cardiologist said, “Therefore, I plead not guilty.” The brief hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court ended with Pastor setting a March 28 date for the start of a trial in the case. Murray faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted, and the Times noted that he surprised the judge by invoking his right to a speedy trial, which meant the case would have to begin by late March. Pastor noted the rarity of a defendant asking to have a speedy trial, then set jury selection for the week of March 28 and said he was inclined to allow television coverage of the trial that the defense expects will last two months. Lawyers for Murray have maintained his innocence all along, saying he did not do anything that “should have” caused the 50-year-old pop icon’s death. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office determined that Jackson died of an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol mixed with a cocktail of other sedatives. Murray has admitted to administering propofol to Jackson in the hours before the singer’s death, but the defense appears to be gearing up to claim that it was Jackson who administered the final, fatal dose of the drug after he woke in a panic from a fitful night of sleep. During a preliminary hearing earlier this month to determine if there was enough evidence to hold Murray over for trial, the physician’s attorneys said that there was evidence Jackson injected or drank a fatal amount of the drug when the doctor was not looking. Related Photos Michael Jackson: A Life In Photos Related Artists Michael Jackson

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Michael Jackson Doctor Pleads Not Guilty To Involuntary Manslaughter

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Michael Jackson Doctor Pleads Not Guilty To Involuntary Manslaughter

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Conrad Murray’s trial slated to start March 28. By Gil Kaufman Dr. Conrad Murray appears in court on Tuesday in Los Angeles, California Photo: Irfan Khan-Pool/ Getty Images Michael Jackson’s former personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray entered a plea of not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in the June 2009 death of the pop star at his arraignment on Tuesday morning (January 25). According to the Los Angeles Times, when asked by judge Michael Pastor how he pleaded to the charge, Murray said, “Your honor, I am an innocent man.” When Pastor interrupted and asked Murray what his plea was, the cardiologist said, “Therefore, I plead not guilty.” The brief hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court ended with Pastor setting a March 28 date for the start of a trial in the case. Murray faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted, and the Times noted that he surprised the judge by invoking his right to a speedy trial, which meant the case would have to begin by late March. Pastor noted the rarity of a defendant asking to have a speedy trial, then set jury selection for the week of March 28 and said he was inclined to allow television coverage of the trial that the defense expects will last two months. Lawyers for Murray have maintained his innocence all along, saying he did not do anything that “should have” caused the 50-year-old pop icon’s death. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office determined that Jackson died of an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol mixed with a cocktail of other sedatives. Murray has admitted to administering propofol to Jackson in the hours before the singer’s death, but the defense appears to be gearing up to claim that it was Jackson who administered the final, fatal dose of the drug after he woke in a panic from a fitful night of sleep. During a preliminary hearing earlier this month to determine if there was enough evidence to hold Murray over for trial, the physician’s attorneys said that there was evidence Jackson injected or drank a fatal amount of the drug when the doctor was not looking. Related Photos Michael Jackson: A Life In Photos Related Artists Michael Jackson

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Michael Jackson Doctor Pleads Not Guilty To Involuntary Manslaughter

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Bret Michaels’ Heart Surgery Successful

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Poison frontman is recuperating in ICU after surgery to fix hole in his heart. By Gil Kaufman Bret Michaels Photo: Michael N. Todaro/ Getty Images Poison singer and reality-TV star Bret Michaels had successful surgery on Monday to repair a hole in his heart. It was some good medical news after several years of health scares for the 47-year-old “Celebrity Apprentice” winner . According to The Associated Press, the surgery took place at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, and a hospital spokeswoman said Michaels is recuperating and remains in the facility’s intensive care unit for observation. Doctors discovered a hole in Michaels’ heart in April after he was treated for a brain hemorrhage . During Monday’s procedure, doctors inserted a catheter into a vein in Michaels’ groin with a surgical device and then used tiny cameras to close the hole in his heart. The closure device will remain inside the rocker’s heart permanently to stop abnormal blood flow between two chambers of his heart, which doctors think could have caused the stroke he suffered last year. The impending surgery didn’t slow Michaels down over the weekend, when he attended a classic car show in Phoenix and auctioned off his 1969 Camaro — which had a cameo in his recent VH1 series, “Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It” — for more than $200,000, before checking into the hospital on Saturday night to prepare for the procedure. “Barring any complications, I should be out within three or four days,” he told the Arizona Republic newspaper on Friday. “Then, I will be down (resting) for three weeks. I don’t know if I can sit around for that long, but I’ll try my best.” Michaels, who also had an emergency appendectomy in April, recently proposed to his girlfriend of 16 years, Kristi Gibson, who is also the mother of his two children. Related Photos Bret Michaels’ Career In Photos Related Artists Bret Michaels

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Rah Digga Says She Won’t ‘Get Caught Up’ In Femcee Feuds

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Ex-Flipmode MC tells Mixtape Daily battle between Nicki Minaj, Lil’ Kim and others is about ‘celebrity,’ not artistry. By Jayson Rodriguez, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes Rah Digga Photo: Raw Koncept Media Group The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From the Underground Can’t a lady MC just spit anymore? With all the beefing going on between Nicki Minaj, Lil’ Kim , Foxy Brown and now, even Jackie O, lost in the shuffle is veteran rhymer Rah Digga. The Dirty Harriet star recently headlined an all-ladies lineup in Los Angeles and next month she’ll bring her talents to Brooklyn for a “Ladies First” show at Southpaw , alongside underground Toronto lyricist Eternia. “To be honest, if you’re an artist and you’re just into the music, all that [beef] stuff is irrelevant,” Digga told Mixtape Daily. “All that stuff they’re fighting for has nothing to do with making good music or being an artist. It is what it is. It’s a fight about being a popular celebrity. It has nothing to do with music. And I don’t get caught up in that and I don’t deal with anybody in it.” Instead, the New Jersey native continues to craft her well-received bars. The former Flipmode Squad member put out her Nottz-produced Classic LP last year, which was the first album by Digga since her 2000 debut. In the time elapsed since Dirty Harriet, the roaring female MC took up another trade and learned film editing at Manhattan’s New York Film Academy. Now, with backing from a new label, Raw Koncept, and one release already out, Digga promises a follow-up (and mixtape) are coming sooner than expected. “[ Classic ] was just an album that I wanted to do,” she explained. “I didn’t have any A&Rs in my ears. I put it out with Nottz and there it was. I think a lot of artists really don’t have that luxury, ’cause they’re too busy having to follow the label protocol and stuff. It’s one thing when you’re coming into the game and making music and trying to find your footing in the industry, per se. So you roll with the punches, which is part of what I did with Dirty Harriet. Not the music. But the ‘I don’t care about going platinum in the first week.’ I had other stipulations that I wasn’t budging from. “You won’t have to wait another 10 years, I promise,” Digga added about her follow-up. Other Heat This Week

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David Guetta Dishes On U2 Collaboration

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘We met with Bono and I was really excited, really honored,’ dance superstar tells MTV News of working with pop-rock legends. By Mawuse Ziegbe, with reporting by Akshay Bhansali David Guetta Photo: MTV News David Guetta can check Akon, Rihanna and Flo Rida off his list of superstar collabos, but the next possible high-wattage team-up in the works for the producer/DJ may be much more than the clubs can handle. The French behind-the-boards whiz recently told MTV News that he’s been speaking with pop-rock icon Bono about putting his hit-friendly touch on the next U2 project. “We met with Bono, and I was really excited, really honored because he proposed me to maybe produce some tracks for the next U2 album,” Guetta said. The architect of smashes like the Akon-assisted speaker-crusher “Sexy Chick” and the ubiquitous Black Eyed Peas anthem “I Gotta Feeling,” Guetta added that he’s more than ready to broaden his professional horizons beyond the main-room bangers and R&B-tinged tracks that have netted him tons of fan acclaim and status as a dance-music demigod. “I’ve been more and more open to different styles of music, and obviously electronic music is still my main thing, but I just love music. If it’s good, it doesn’t matter what style,” he said. “After those collaborations with all these urban artists, I thought it would be a real challenge for me to try to go in that direction.” But what would a Guetta-helmed U2 jam sound like? The quartet has spent decades blowing minds with their epic yet intimate pop-rock cuts, but how does one marry the fist-pumping, booty-rattling throb of Guetta’s body of work with the Dubliners’ sensibilities? The DJ told us that’s he’s already trying to figure that out. “That’s done already,” Guetta smiled, admitting that he started tinkering with some sounds in the studio. “I started a few ideas already, yes.” Bono said late last year that U2 are actively exploring a dancefloor-friendly sound in some of their new music, and have also enlisted Broken Bells producer Danger Mouse, Lady Gaga soundsmith RedOne and the Peas’ will.i.am to craft some tracks. “U2’s remixes in the 1990s were a real treasure,” Bono explained to Australian newspaper The Age in October. “So we wanted to make a club-sounding record. We have a pile of songs.” What do you think a David Guetta/ U2 collabo would sound like? Sound off in the comments! Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: David Guetta Related Artists David Guetta U2

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Cam’ron Says Vado Will Decline XXL Freshmen Cover

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Like Drake and Nicki Minaj in 2010, he says offer came a year too late. By Jayson Rodriguez Cam’ron and Vado Photo: Johnny Nunez/ WireImage It’s almost that time of the year when hip-hop magazine XXL crowns the newest crop of lauded MCs for its annual “Freshmen” cover . One on-the-rise upstart who won’t be gracing the front of the magazine, however, is Vado. Cam’ron said his prot

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Avril Lavigne Rocks Out In 3-D For ‘What The Hell’

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘It felt like you were live in a crowd,’ she tells MTV News of video’s special effects. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Kelly Marino Avril Lavigne Photo: MTV News Avril Lavigne is back , and she’s asking “What the Hell” on the lead single off her March 8 release, Goodbye Lullaby. In the video , which premiered on Sunday, she’s pursued around town by a guy whose affections she doesn’t seem to value quite as much as her own freedom to do what she pleases. The clip also has another dimension to it: It was shot in 3-D. When MTV News caught up with Lavigne to talk about the song, she was excited about the high-tech project. “The music video’s in 3-D, and my favorite part of the video is the rock-out scene at the end where I jump onstage and I’m with my band,” she said. “When we shot it and I got to watch it back in 3-D with the glasses and actually you can see the crowd’s hands, and it felt like you were live in a crowd, so it was kind of cool.” The song and the album are Lavigne’s return to the music spotlight. In the years since she released The Best Damn Thing in 2007, the 26-year-old had a high-profile divorce from Sum-41’s Deryck Whibley, battled her record label and found love again with former “Hills” star Brody Jenner. The album, she explains, reflects all that growing up. “[It’s] about saying goodbye to something sweet and familiar and taking a step forward and opening a new chapter in your life,” she explained. “This album overall is kind of bittersweet. It’s full of sad and happy emotions. The message overall is about moving forward and coming out of that and finding inner strength. The record’s a little more raw. It’s a more emotional record, and you can really feel that. I went for those raw, vulnerable moments, but having ‘What the Hell’ be the first single is more like my older stuff. It’s a good way to bridge it.” What do you think of the “What the Hell” video? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Avril Lavigne Related Artists Avril Lavigne

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Jennifer Lopez’s ‘On The Floor’ Video: Behind The Scenes

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘I got to be wild and crazy, and at the same time I got to be sexy and sweet too,’ new ‘American Idol’ judge tells MTV News. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Matt Elias Jennifer Lopez on the set of her video for “On the Floor” Photo: MTV News Jennifer Lopez just wants everyone to dance. Over the weekend, J.Lo shot the music video for her new club jam, “On the Floor,” and in it, Lopez and her crew are living by this motto: Just dance. “I play one character where she kind of runs this party, acts like she’s kind of over it, but at the same time loves it and loves this kind of underground kind of party dance culture,” the new “American Idol” judge told MTV News on the set of her video. “So I got to be wild and crazy, and at the same time I got to be sexy and sweet too.” The video and song feature Pitbull, and the rapper revealed he has a certain system when it comes to appearing on this type of dance track. “When you got these big, big house records or club records that are very global, I try to come in on what I was raised on, what I’m a fan of, which is just spitting hard,” he explained. Lady Gaga producer RedOne said of crafting the track, “It’s a global sound. It’s very rhythmic. It has this rhythm. You know J.Lo: She’s this global star with Latin flavor.” Last week, RedOne gushed about working with the pop star. “She’s a dancer. She can sing. I was really amazed, and I had so much fun working with her,” he said. “Her energy and everything about her is a star, and it was natural for me to do what we did.” Lopez said the video mirrors the song’s theme. “Every single lyric is about letting go: Get on the floor and be an animal,” she said. And she explained that while the album is diverse, it’s all really just about one thing. “There’s so many songs on the album I’m excited for people to hear for so many reasons,” she said. “Some of them because they’re just straight-up club bangers, some because of what they have to say, and some because of how they make you groove. They’re all very thematic in the sense that they’re all about love.” What are you expecting from the “On the Floor” video? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Jennifer Lopez Related Photos On The Set Of J.Lo’s ‘On The Floor’ Related Artists Jennifer Lopez J. Lo

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