Defence lawyer Ed Chernoff said his client, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter, was not responsible for the pop superstar's death in 2009.
He claimed that Jackson was so upset about the state of his finances he took his own life, reports contactmusic.com.
"The crux of the defence is going to be that Michael Jackson engaged in a desperate act and took desperate measures that caused his death. We believe at the time Michael Jackson died he was a desperate man in relation to his financial affairs," Chernoff told Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor.
However, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren has opposed the claims, saying the defence is simply staging "an irrelevant sideshow" aimed at distracting the jury from the key issue of the trial.
Published 07 April 2011, 06:56 IST