Monday 14th February 2005

Individual questioning of about 250 potential jurors began today, and the defence named some of the witnesses it intends to call including Elizabeth Taylor, David Blaine, Nick Carter, and Kobe Bryant.

Wednesday 9th February 2005

The judge releases the questionnaire responses of the 250 potential jurors who will be returning to the courthouse on Monday 14th February, for final jury selection.

Monday 7th February 2005

Individual questioning of potential jurors, scheduled to begin today, has been postponed until Monday 14th February following the death lead defence attorney Thomas Mesereau's sister.

Thursday 3rd February 2005

Because Santa Barbara County is only about 2% black, and the northern part of the country from where the jurors are being chosen has an even smaller black population, it's likely that Michael Jackson's trial jury will contain few or no black members.

Wednesday 2nd February 2005

Three expected witnesses at Michael Jackson's upcoming trial: for the defence, Canadian film director Bryan Michael Stoller, close friend of Michael Jackson who will testify that he has seen absolutely nothing that would suggest that he is guilty. For the prosecution: Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson’s ex-wife and the mother of two of his children,  and Jordy Chandler, who made molestation claims against Michael Jackson in 1993 and then dropped the charges after accepting a civil settlement

Tuesday 1st February 2005

The first round of jury selection ended earlier than anticipated today: 250 of the potential jurors have indicted they'd be able to serve and the judge ordered them to return on Monday 7th February morning for individual questioning

Day 1: Monday 31 January
Pop icon Michael Jackson - upbeat and dressed in white - arrives in court, flanked by bodyguards, family and cheered on by 200 fans. He is introduced to more than 300 prospective jurors, all residents of Santa Barbara County, each of which receive a seven-page questionnaire. Over half the jurors ask to be excused.

Day 2: Tuesday 1 February
Jackson attends the second day of his trial wearing a dark suit with an army badge bearing the Queen's ER emblem. Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville abruptly ends the first phase of jury selection - a day ahead of schedule - after quickly finding a pool of about 250 people willing to serve on the case. The court is adjourned until the following Monday. The judge must ultimately swear in a jury of just 12 people.

Day 5: Friday 4 February
In a TV interview for Fox News, Jackson blasts sensational reports about him as "fiction" and lambasted the press for targeting his celebrity status. The singer is barred from speaking publicly about the trial.

Day 7: Sunday 6 February
Jury selection, scheduled for the following day, is postponed for a week after the sister of Jackson's lead attorney Thomas Mesereau dies. Meanwhile, Judge Rodney Melville meets potential jurors at a nearby gym as the courtroom can't accommodate 250 people. He orders 113 members of the pool to return for questioning.

Day 11: Thursday 10 February
According to papers released by the court, one in seven of those remaining in the jury pool have friends or family who know Mr Jackson. The news underlines the difficulty the pop star may face in getting a fair hearing.

Day 15: Monday 14 February
Michael Jackson's lawyers announce that they plan to call up to 350 witnesses, including actress Elizabeth Taylor, singer Diana Ross, illusionist David Blaine, ex-child star Corey Feldman, basketball player Kobe Bryant, and Tonight Show host Jay Leno. They also reveal that 10 witnesses might be family members, including Jackson's two young children, Paris and Prince Michael.

Day 16: Tuesday 15 February
Thomas Mesereau announces that his client is "very, very ill" and has been rushed to hospital, delaying the day's jury selection. It is later revealed that the star is suffering from flu-like symptoms.

Day 18: Thursday 17 February
Jackson is released from hospital following treatment for flu. The singer is said to be in "high spirits" and is seen waving a red-dotted teddy from his hospital window before being whisked off in a black people carrier to his Neverland ranch to recover. The trial is postponed until the following Tuesday.

Day 22: Wedneday 23 February
The jury for the trial is selected in record time. Four men and eight women are chosen, with a white and Hispanic background. "It's unheard of in a case like this to have a jury this fast," former San Francisco prosecutor and legal analyst Jim Hammer said. The jury's age ranges from 20 to 79 and includes several fans of Jackson's music, four parents of young children, one woman whose grandson was convicted of a sexual offence, and a man who visited Jackson's Neverland ranch as a child.

Day 27: Monday 28 February
The trial - case number 1133 603, the people versus Michael Joe Jackson - finally begins and the opening statements are heard...