Judge allows Jackson autopsy photos
LOS ANGELES, April 22 (UPI) -- A California Superior Court judge is allowing two photos from the autopsy of pop star Michael Jackson to be shown during the trial of his former physician.
Dr. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 50-year-old singer's 2009 death.
An autopsy found lethal levels of the anesthesia propofol and sedatives in Jackson's system.
Murray is accused of administering the drugs in the singer's home to help Jackson sleep.
CNN said Judge Michael Pastor announced Thursday two autopsy photos can be submitted as evidence.
"These limited photographs will help demonstrate that Michael Jackson was generally in excellent health and that, while thin, his body weight was within the normal range," CNN said the prosecution wrote in a motion filed Tuesday.
Opening statements and testimony in the case are to begin May 9.
Mel Gibson: I still have friends
LOS ANGELES, April 22 (UPI) -- Hollywood actor-director Mel Gibson says Whoopi Goldberg and Jodie Foster aren't the only celebrities to stand by him during his high-profile troubles.
The "Braveheart" and "Lethal Weapon" star has become a polarizing figure in recent years due to anti-Semitic remarks he made during a 2006 drunken driving arrest and his stormy relationship with his ex-girlfriend, which ended in a no-contest plea to a battery charge this year.
In a rare interview, Gibson told celebrity Web site Deadline many of his friends still have his back -- even if they don't say so in public.
Asked what he thinks of Goldberg publicly defending him, Gibson replied: "I knew Whoopi before she was Whoopi. And, as she's great and I always liked her and loved her. I like her even more now because she got it."
Told that Goldberg took a lot of criticism for defending him, Gibson told Deadline: "I know. I love her for it."
The star said he didn't care few others were moved to defend him in public.
"That doesn't bother me. Why would anyone want to speak publicly and drag themselves through this crap? It seems to add fuel to the fire. Very many people are supportive, of course, but you find out who your friends are. I have many friends and they've been great," he said.
In talking about future projects, Gibson insisted he "could easily not act again."
"It's not a problem," emphasized the co-star of Foster's upcoming film, "The Beaver."
"I'm going to do something now because I want to do it and because it's fun. I've already pulled another job and it's going to be fun. I don't know if it's going to get off the ground, but I'm going to go work for Randy Wallace again."
Wallace wrote the screenplay for "Braveheart," which Gibson starred in and directed and which won the 1996 Best Picture Oscar.
"He's got this script and he's had it for years," Gibson said. "He wrote some book and he's adapted it to a script. And it's almost like Alexander Dumas -- like that swashbuckler kind of stuff."
Jeremy Renner up for 'Bourne' role
LOS ANGELES, April 22 (UPI) -- U.S. actor Jeremy Renner is in talks to take over the "Bourne" film franchise from Matt Damon, Deadline reported.
The entertainment news Web site said Thursday Universal Pictures has offered the two-time Oscar nominee the lead role in "The Bourne Legacy," the CIA thriller Tony Gilroy is poised to start directing in September.
Gilroy penned the three previous "Bourne" blockbusters -- "The Bourne Identity," "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum" -- which starred Damon as the titular hero.
Renner would play a new character in the spinoff, Deadline said.
Damon has said he wouldn't appear in a fourth "Bourne" movie unless Paul Greengrass directed it. Greengrass helmed "Supremacy" and "Ultimatum."
Leeza Gibbons marries
LOS ANGELES, April 22 (UPI) -- U.S. television personality Leeza Gibbons has married Steven Fenton, a man she met on a blind date more than two years ago, People.com reported.
Gibbons, 54, and Fenton, 41, married at midnight Wednesday on the rooftop of the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., in front of only Gibbons' three children, two of whom are ministers who officiated the ceremony.
The rooftop was the scene of Gibbons' and Fenton's first date.
"We are living the fairy tale," Gibbons told People.com. "We have so much respect for each other and grow stronger together … always so grateful to have been given another chance at love."
"Leeza is the most kind person I have ever known. It's that compassion that I see every day in her children. My life is now complete," Fenton said.
Gibbons is the star of PBS' "My Generation."
Fenton is former president of the Beverly Hills Board of Education.
