And amid all the froth and fury, Judge Michael Pastor is trying to prevent the prosecution of Michael Jackson's personal physician for involuntary manslaughter degenerating into trial by internet and innuendo.
Each day, in the ninth floor Los Angeles courtroom, he painstakingly repeats his instruction to the jury not to look at popular online sites or follow the media.
And on Friday, he angrily lectured lawyers at the trial that they should not speak publicly about the case after a partner of the defence attorney criticised a witness and discussed trial strategy on a mass-audience television show.
But in the first major celebrity trial since social media – and most notably Twitter - gained such dominance, it has been particularly challenging for Judge Pastor to keep the circus at bay in this final episode in the sorry saga of the King of Pop.
Jackson died aged 50 in his rented mansion in June 2009 from an overdose of Propofol, a powerful anaesthetic that he was taking as part of a cocktail of medications to combat insomnia.
Conrad Murray, the doctor he retained on a $150,000-a-month contract just weeks earlier, is accused of negligently administering the lethal dose. He has pleaded not guilty to a charge that carries a jail term of up to four years.
It was a tough first week for Dr Murray's prospects in the trial as a series of prosecution witnesses gave damning testimony. On Friday, a paramedic called to the scene said that the physician did not mention Propofol when asked what drugs Jackson had been taking.
Other witnesses have said that Dr Murray delayed calling emergency services and seemed preoccupied by hiding medications rather than the condition of his patient.
A paramedic who tried to revive Michael Jackson has claimed that the singer's doctor failed to mention he had given the performer the powerful anaesthetic now known to have killed him.
Richard Senneff, delivering the most damning testimony yet to emerge from the trial of Dr Conrad Murray, revealed that the physician told him Jackson "was not taking any medication" and neglected to say he had administered the drug propofol to the singer. Prosecutors cite the omission as evidence that the cardiologist has repeatedly tried to conceal his actions during the desperate struggle to save Jackson. Murray, 58, is charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Senneff, the first paramedic to reach Jackson's bedroom on 25 June 2009, said he found the singer on the floor wearing a surgical cap. Jackson's skin was turning blue and "cool to the touch" while his eyes were "open and dry", suggesting he had been dead for some time, even though paramedics had arrived only five minutes after a 911 call stating that a 50-year-old male was suffering a cardiac arrest. Jackson appeared so underweight that Senneff deduced he might be suffering from a chronic illness.
Senneff told the court in Los Angeles that Murray was behaving in a frantic manner and that the doctor was evasive when he asked what underlying health condition Jackson had.
"He said, 'Nothing. He has nothing'," Senneff told jurors. "Simply, that did not add up to me." That, he added, was the start of several inconsistencies concerning Murray's responses that emerged during the 42 minutes while Los Angeles paramedics tried to revive Jackson.
Murray denies involuntary manslaughter. If convicted he could face up to four years in prison and lose his medical licence. Defence lawyers claim that Jackson gave himself an extra dose of propofol after his doctor left the room.
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