The involuntary manslaughter trial against Conrad Murray, the doctor who was treating Michael Jackson the day he died in Los Angeles last summer, is not even underway and already a massive media circus is expected at Superior Court downtown.

A hearing in the Murray case scheduled for Monday had the county court system scrambling on Friday to prepare for the global news-media onslaught. “To minimize congestion inside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on Monday, April 5, media representatives should claim seating credentials at the PIO check-in desk on the exterior plaza in front of east end of the Temple Street entrance to the building,” reads a county statement. ” … Seating credentials will not be distributed on the 13th floor, or anywhere else inside the couthouse, at any time.”

The county warns that if you're late, you're out of luck: “Media representatives who arrive after 1:15 cannot be accommodated in the courtroom, regardless of where they may fall on the seating reservation list.”

Is this an opportunity for “Free Murray” t-shirt hawkers? Will Gloria Allred find a female angle and hold a news conference on the courthouse steps? Are Jackson's still-thriving fans going to moonwalk for the press? You'll just have to tune in Monday afternoon to find out.

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