Trial of Michael Jackson's doctor begins

The trial of Conrad Murray, singer Michael Jackson's doctor, for involuntary manslaughter has begun in Los Angeles.

We will be liveblogging.

Prosecutors charge that Murray, 58, gave Jackson a lethal dose of the sedative propofol, which the singer used as a sleeping aid, on the night he died in June 2009.

Murray's defense team argues that the singer had given himself too much of the drug.

Update at 2:42 p.m.ET: The defense attorney said Jackson "had an absolutely, total and thorough inability to sleep."

Update at 2:33 p.m. ET: Seated in the courtroom, Murray brushes away tears as his attorney describes events on the morning Jackson died. Correction: The Los Angeles Times says Murray breaks down in tears "as his lawyer describes his work with the poor" before he took a $150,000 a month job with the singer.

Update at 2:32 p.m.ET: "There was no CPR, there was no doctor, no paramedic, no machine that was going to revive Michael Jackson," Chernoff tells jurors. "He died so rapidly, so instantly, he didn't even have time to close his eyes."

Update at 2:28 p.m. ET: Defense attorney Ed Chernoff says that when Murray had left Jackson's bedroom the morning that he died, the singer "self-administered a dose of profopol" on top of 8 other pills and "caused a perfect storm in his body that killed him instantly."

Update at 12:35 p.m. ET: The proseuctor says propofol "is not a sleep aid or sleep agent, it is a general anesthetic."

He says it is a "wonderful drug if used by someone who knows what he is doing, who knows the dangers as well as the benefits."

Update at 12:27 p.m. ET: In opening statements, the prosecution charges that Murray "repeatedly acted with gross negligence, repeatedly denied care appropriate to his patient..."

The prosecution argues that it was "Murray's repeated incompetent and unskilled acts that led toMr. Jackson's death."

"Acts and omissions of his directly led to his (Jackson's) premature death at the age of 50," the prosecution tells jurors.