via:cnn

A Los Angeles inventor who photographed Michael Jackson 33 years ago hopes those images will now help launch an electric motor he claims could solve the world's energy problems.

Reginald Garcia will use cash from the sale of 130 unpublished Jackson photos to fund testing of the motor, which he claims generates more electricity than it uses. Garcia is in the process of getting the photos appraised and prepared for sale.

The photos show a 19-year-old Jackson and his brothers during a video shoot at a Hollywood studio in March 1978, before he began changing his appearance with surgery.

The Afro hair style and 1970s clothing show "a rare glance" of Jackson in an "awkward teenage stage," an image that he personally tried to bury in later years, according to a collector who sold photographs to the singer.

"If it was an image he didn't like, he was more likely to buy them than if they were images he did like," said Keya Morgan. "Were he alive now, I would definitely go to him and I'm sure he would want to buy them."

With Jackson gone, Morgan's Keya Gallery is buying the image copyrights and helping Reginald Garcia sell the original slides, prints and contact sheets that have been forgotten on his shelf for decades.

Garcia pulled the box of photos out of his closet last month when he was looking for ways to finance testing of his "self-generating" motor, Garcia said in a CNN interview this week.

"He was the greatest guy you could ever talk to," Garcia said of his day with Jackson.

Garcia was a student at California Tech and a freelance photographer when a friend of his sister's, who worked for CBS Records, asked him to take pictures of the Jacksons at Gower Studios in Hollywood, he said.

The color photos show the Jackson 5 dressed in blue tuxedos, singing on a soundstage.

The black-and-white images were taken during breaks in the video shoot, Garcia said.

"I sat him in front of a mirror and shot some photos, and I said 'act like you're reading a letter like you just got from your girl,'" he said. The result was a photo showing Jackson and his reflection in a dressing room mirror. Garcia said he only recently realized it echoes the singer's later hit "Man in the Mirror."

Garcia and business partner David Marohnic brought his photos and the prototype of his invention to CNN's Los Angeles bureau to demonstrate the engine and talk about their plans.

"What we're essentially looking for is trying to take the photos that Reggie took of Michael Jackson, his legacy, use those funds to try to take our prototype to the market and ultimately clean up the environment and use less greenhouse gases as a result of a motor that's very highly efficient," Mahronic said.

The motor buzzed as two voltage meters measured the energy going in and the power flowing out, back to the battery.

"It's generating more energy recharging the battery than it actually draws from the battery," Marohnic said.

Garcia reconfigured the brushes and rewound the copper in a standard motor "so it captures the negative electromagnetic field as it collapses, sends energy to a capacitor and recharges the battery," he said.

The sale of the Jackson photographs will allow them "to certify that the prototype does everything that we say it's going to do," Marohnic said.

"It's written in the stars," Garcia said. "We have a destiny of a greener earth, a door opening today that should lead us to this clean earth."

Cirque du Soleil wants to recreate Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch in Sin City.

The Mandalay Bay hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip plans to open a sprawling entertainment complex that includes a Jackson-themed lounge, an interactive memorabilia museum and a theater designed to replicate the iconic refuge of the deceased musical legend, Cirque du Soleil president Daniel Lamarre said Wednesday.

"This place, Mandalay Bay, is going to become the home of Michael Jackson in many, many ways," he said at an announcement at the casino attended by Jackson's older brother, Jackie.

John Branca, co-executor of Michael Jackson's estate, said the attraction will offer fans a permanent place to celebrate, as well as give them the opportunity to see some of the objects displayed at Neverland Ranch.

"Very few fans would ever get to visit Michael's Neverland Ranch because of its remote location," he said.

Plans for the Las Vegas lodestone, set to open in 2013, are part of the budding business relationship between the acrobatic troupe and the pop star's estate.

Cirque du Soleil's homage to Jackson kicks off in October, with the most expensive show in the French company's history. The $57 million Michael Jackson, The Immortal World Tour will open in Montreal and hit 30 cities including New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The tour's Las Vegas stop at Mandalay Bay will kick off with a fan convention in December as a preview to the permanent Jackson attraction.

Concept art for the touring show's set prominently features a massive tree symbolic of a favorite oak that was outside Jackson's Neverland bedroom. The singer nicknamed it the Giving Tree and had a perch built atop it where he wrote music and sometimes slept.

For Jackson's Thriller, tombstones overwhelm the set in a nod to the music video's horror-film motif and gyrating zombies.

Excerpts from Jackson's music videos will be part of the 90-minute show, with no specific performer representing Jackson. Immortal will also feature as-yet-unreleased songs that Jackson finished before his death in 2009.

The tour then goes to Europe, Lamarre said, while Cirque producers open a more intimate, theatrical show at the new Las Vegas theater.

Jackson's estate and Cirque will each own 50% of both projects and share equally in the cost of putting on the productions.

Tour director Jamie King said he searched for acrobats, dancers and musicians from across the world who could capture Jackson's spirit and showmanship.

"I feel like I am not doing it alone, I feel like I am doing it with Michael as my co-director all the way," said King, who has directed concert tours for Madonna, Rihanna and Celine Dion and is a former Jackson back-up dancer.

Jackson admired the Canadian troupe's work and attended Cirque shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. His support, Lamarre said, helped build the company.

Cirque du Soleil has since become as ubiquitous on the Las Vegas Strip as all-you-can-eat buffets or buzzing slot machines, with shows in recent years honoring Elvis Presley, Celine Dion and the Beatles.

Mandalay Bay, long home to Disney's The Lion King musical, has never hosted a Cirque show before.

Mandalay Bay President Chuck Bowling said the Jackson attraction will strengthen the casino's financial health in future years.

The theatrical performance will take over The Lion King stage when that show closes in December, and some venues in the casino will have to be relocated to accommodate the mega attraction.

Lamarre said the changes will be permanent.

"The tradition here is our shows last forever," he said.

Lawyers for Michael Jackson's doctor, insisting on a speedy trial on an involuntary manslaughter charge, appeared headed for a roadblock, with a judge saying Monday he doesn't think they are ready for trial and he may have to delay the planned March 24 start.

"I am extremely distressed about the state of this case and whether the defense is prepared for trial and its obligations to Dr. Murray," said Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor.

Prosecutors urged the judge to delay the start of jury selection, and Pastor asked them to present case law on the matter Wednesday, when he ordered Conrad Murray to appear. The doctor, who has pleaded not guilty, has been absent from the past few hearings under a waiver that allowed him to continue working at his clinics in Texas and Nevada.

Murray's medical license to practice in California has been suspended by Pastor. Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan told the judge the urgency of getting to trial involves Murray's fear that if it takes too long, Texas and Nevada will lift his medical license as well.

Flanagan also suggested that Murray is running out of money to fund his defense.

"We need to go to trial right away," he said. "We don't have the budget that would let us draw this out."

Flanagan acknowledged, "We are still preparing this case," but said it was normal for evidence to develop even after the trial has begun.

"We will be ready for trial March 24," Flanagan said. "We are not ready today."

Prosecutors objected that they are entitled to receive discovery of defense evidence 30 days before trial starts, a deadline which has already passed. Deputy District Attorney Deborah Brazil said she has received no reports from defense experts or any statements from proposed defense witnesses.

Flanagan angrily complained that the prosecution has not met all of its discovery obligations either.

The judge ordered Brazil and Deputy District Attorney David Walgren to turn over clean digital photos from Jackson's autopsy as well as all of the surveillance tapes recorded at his Bel Air home on June 25, 2009, the day he died of an overdose of the anesthetic propofol and other sedatives.

Pastor said that unless both sides quickly meet their discovery obligations, he will begin issuing sanctions of $1,500 per lawyer per day. The judge said he may have to start holding daily hearings in order to compel discovery.

Among the experts Flanagan said he expects to call is a leading authority on the use propofol. Flanagan said the witness believes Jackson was addicted to the pain killer Demerol and was withdrawing it at the time of his death, which may have complicated his reactions.

Outside court, Flanagan said prosecutors had 20 months to prepare their case while the defense began developing evidence in the past six weeks after a preliminary hearing.

Flanagan said outside court that he believes Pastor can't overrule the speedy trial requirement unless the defense is found unprepared on the day of trial. By then, the judge will have called hundreds of prospective jurors to the courthouse and arranged for extra security. He stressed that arranging for such a high-profile trial is time consuming and complicated.

La Toya Jackson arrives Thursday for day three of the preliminary hearing for Dr. Conrad Murray. Dr. Murray has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson

Prosecutors called a third witness Thursday who described frantic efforts by the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death to gather medication from the floor of the bedroom where the singer died after receiving intravenous doses of a powerful anesthetic.

Paramedic Martin Blount testified at a preliminary hearing that Dr. Conrad Murray scooped up three vials of the painkiller lidocaine moments after the doctor said he hadn't given the superstar any medications.

In addition, Blount and Richard Senneff, another experienced paramedic, said Murray never mentioned giving Jackson the anesthetic propofol and told them the singer lost consciousness moments before an ambulance was called. Both witnesses thought the singer was dead by the time they arrived at his mansion on June 25, 2009.

Authorities contend Murray gave Jackson a lethal dose of propofol and other sedatives then tried to conceal his actions by hiding the medications and not telling paramedics and emergency room doctors about the drugs.

A judge will decide after the hearing if there is enough evidence for Murray to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys have said Murray did not give Jackson anything that should have killed him.

Bodyguard Alberto Alvarez testified earlier that Murray told him to place several vials of medicine and an IV bag into other bags before calling an ambulance.

The three witnesses were the first people to encounter Murray and Jackson in the bedroom.

"I saw three small bottles of lidocaine," Blount testified. "He scooped them off the floor and put them into a black bag."

Murray also produced a hypodermic needle at one point and wanted to use it on the singer, but Blount and other paramedics refused, according to the testimony.

A defense attorney did not question Blount about the lidocaine vials.

Prosecutors also introduced Murray's cellphone records as evidence, showing the 911 call summoning paramedics was made at 12:21 p.m. Murray also made a phone call in the ambulance as Jackson's body was being transported to UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center.

That two-minute call was to Murray's girlfriend, Nicole Alvarez, who might testify Friday.

Emergency room Dr. Richelle Cooper testified that she was never told that Jackson had been given propofol and other sedatives. Murray said only the sedative lorazepam had been given, Cooper said.

Murray's defense attorney, J. Michael Flanagan, asked Cooper if propofol use would be relevant information, since the drug wears off quickly.

Cooper said it might have changed her actions due to concerns about its possible interaction with other drugs in Jackson's system.

Murray was present in the emergency room when Cooper and others tried to revive the pop singer for more than an hour. Notes indicated someone reported a faint pulse in Jackson's leg, but Cooper said she could not confirm it.

Jackson was pronounced dead at the hospital at 2:26 p.m., but Cooper testified she had previously given paramedics authorization to pronounce Jackson dead at his home.

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said in his opening statement that Jackson was already dead when Murray summoned help and tried to conceal his administering of propofol to the pop star.

Blount and Senneff said they were never able to find a viable heartbeat in Jackson in his bedroom, but transported him to the hospital because Murray agreed to take over treatment.

Murray could face four years in prison if tried and convicted.

Prosecutor: Defense will claim Jackson killed himself
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Smart deals by his estate have Michael Jackson set to be one of the top earners in music for years to come.

Over the past year Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Madonna and Jay-Z each each earned more than $50 million. But Michael Jackson earned more than all four--combined.

Fueled by a bonanza of interest following Jackson's death, his estate raked in $275 million over the past 12 months, by our estimates. That's more than enough to earn the King of Pop the top spot on our annual Dead Celebs list; in fact, it's more than the rest of the artists on the list put together, and more than any living artist or group.

"The cash flow  on an annual basis is tremendous," says Donald David, an estate lawyer who handled the postmortem finances of rapper Tupac Shakur. "Sure, it's going to decline eventually, but it's going to be a huge amount in the foreseeable future. [Jackson's] kids are going to have grandkids before that money's gone."

The Gloved One's long-term earnings prospects in the afterlife have been bolstered by the deals arranged since his death. His estate received a $60 million advance for last year's film This Is It; sales of a Jackson-themed videogame, memorabilia and a re-released autobiography brought in an additional $50 million. The estate still owns the rights to Jackson's music, which took in nearly $50 million on heavy radio play and album sales over the past year. The funds have been used to put a significant dent into the roughly $500 million in debt Jackson left.

There's more cash on the horizon for the Jackson estate: A deal with Sony Music to put out unreleased recordings will bring in another $200 million to $250 million over the next seven years. Adam Kluger, chief of product-placement outfit The Kluger Agency, expects new Jackson releases to include collaborations with popular artists like Akon and Will.i.am, both of whom worked with Jackson shortly before his death. He believes the current surge of interest in Jackson will prove sustainable.

"Michael Jackson will definitely have staying power for years to come," says Kluger. "There is a strong demand for Michael Jackson's music and merchandise, and that will only increase as more material surfaces in the years following his death."

Perhaps the most lucrative asset in Jackson's estate is a set of songs recorded by other artists. In 1985 Jackson made a brilliant financial move by shelling out $47.5 million to buy a catalog that included rights to 250 Beatles songs. Ten years later, crippled with personal debts he's incurred through extravagances--from $10,000-a-night hotel stays to Rolls Royce convertibles purchased as gifts for his lieutenants--Jackson sold a 50% interest in the catalog to Sony for $90 million, forming a joint venture called Sony/ATV.

Today Jackson's estate still owns half the catalog, which now contains half a million songs, including titles by Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Lady Gaga, Eminem and Beyoncé. Industry insiders estimate that the catalog throws off $50 million to $100 million per year, giving it a total value of about $1.5 billion. That means an annual $25 million to $50 million for the estate's coffers, on top of the considerable sums coming from Jackson's own music and merchandise.

"His earning potential will only increase year after year, as his legacy continues to be cemented," says Susan Blond, who served as Jackson's publicist during the Thriller days. "When our great-grandchildren are talking about music, it will be Michael Jackson over Elvis Presley."

Michael Jackson's life was destined to end early, according to Lisa Marie Presley -- but she wishes she'd tried harder to save him.

"I know it's naive to think that I could've, but I wanted to," Presley said on The Oprah Winfrey Show Thursday, where she opened up about the death of her ex-husband. "Had I just said, 'How are you?' Can I try to make a phone call? I really... regret that I didn't."

"If he didn't want you around, if you were going to make him confront something he didn't want to confront, he could make you go away -- including his own family," she said. "I think that was a train heading in a certain direction that no one could have stopped. I've had to really get my head around that in order to stop the pain."

She also recalled her last "coherent" conversation with Jackson, whom she married in 1994 and divorced soon after. "I was very distanced, and he was checking to get a read, you know?" she says of the chat in 2005. "He was trying to throw a line out to see if I would bite emotionally, and I wouldn't."

When he asked her if she loved him, "I told him I was indifferent," she says. "He didn't like that word. He cried."

He also said something chilling at the end of that call: "He felt that someone was going to try to kill him to get hold of his catalogue and his estate," she says, adding that Jackson named names but that she couldn't reveal them.

Presley, 42, lives in England with her guitarist husband Michael Lockwood. She has four children.

Songs that didn't make the cut on Michael Jackson albums while he was alive and some forgotten recordings left behind on computer hard drives will be on an album released this fall, sources familiar with the project say.

Jackie Jackson, one of the singer's older brothers, has been working in a studio to help prepare the album, which will include 10 previously unheard songs, according to Jackson estate spokesman Jim Bates.

Jackson's estate and Sony Music announced in March that his next album of unreleased music will go on sale in November.

Music producer Rodney Jerkins, who co-produced Jackson's 2001 album "Invincible," has been working with Sony to put together the new album, a source familiar with the project said. The source asked not to be identified because he was not authorized by the record label to disclose details.

John McClain, one of the two men named in Jackson's will to be executors of his estate, is also working on the album with Jackie Jackson, Bates said. McClain owns a recording studio in Hollywood.

Jackson was known to rent out Los Angeles recording studios for weeks at a time for creative sessions, sometimes alone and sometimes with other well-known artists.

A producer told CNN that he was surprised to find a large cache of forgotten Michael Jackson music files stored on a hard drive at a Hollywood studio in the months after Jackson's June 25, 2009, death.

When he turned the recording device on to start a session, he heard Jackson singing "Hot Fun in the Summertime." The 1969 hit by Sly & the Family Stone is part of an extensive music catalogue that Jackson bought.

The producer said he made a backup copy of the 40 gigabytes of Jackson music and turned it over to one of the Jackson estate administrators. He asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Another computer hard drive with music was found in Jackson's rented mansion in the days after his death, Bates said. A Jackson family member later handed the hard drive over to the estate administrators, he said.

It was not clear if any of that music will be included in the upcoming project, but Sony's Columbia Records has a contract with Jackson's estate for 10 albums of unreleased material over the next seven years.

It was a night of comebacks at the BET Awards, and none more unexpected than Chris Brown performing an emotional tribute to Michael Jackson.

The embattled pop star has mostly kept a low profile since pleading guilty to felony assault for beating up Rihanna in February 2009. But here he was, center stage, mimicking Jackson's signature dance moves with almost eerie accuracy. Introduced by Jermaine Jackson, Brown embodied the King of Pop, wearing his fedora and spangled glove and moonwalking across the stage to Billie Jean.

Then, as Brown grabbed a microphone to sing Man in the Mirror, he broke down in tears. His voice cracked, he couldn't sing, and at one point he crumpled to the stage in apparent agony. It was a moving moment made even more so by the song's lyrics and Brown's recent past.

The 21-year-old returned to the stage later in the show when he won the AOL "fandemonium award."

"I let you all down before, but I won't do it again. I promise you," he said.

Sunday's ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium began with a comeback: Kanye West opened the show atop a volcano onstage in his first TV appearance since dissing Taylor Swift at last year's MTV Video Music Awards.

T.I. also made a triumphant return to television in his first TV performance since being released from prison in December. Backed by Travis Barker on drums, T.I. performed Yeah Ya Know, and later returned to the stage to sing Hello, Good Morning with Diddy-Dirty Money, Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj, who won for female hip-hop artist.

El DeBarge also made a comeback, his falsetto undiminished, performing hits I Like It,Time Will Reveal and Rhythm of the Night. He returned later to perform the title track from his new album due in the fall, Second Chance.

Host Queen Latifah was also musical, first singing to famous members of the audience, then returning to her rap roots and rhyming about the royalty in the audience: herself and Prince, who received BET's lifetime achievement award.

The venerable entertainer was feted with an all-female musical tribute. Janelle Monae offered an energetic take on Let's Go Crazy. Jazz musician Esperanza Spalding accompanied herself on standup bass for If I Was Your Girlfriend.Alicia Keys started behind the piano, then climbed on top of it, when she sang Adore, and Patti LaBelle kicked off her shoes to give her all to Purple Rain.

Prince, who wore a tunic with his own image on it, seemed humbled by the tribute.

"I'm just so thankful to be a part of this world of music," he said. "Thanks for a wonderful night. I'll never forget it as long as I live."

Performances were so plentiful during the 3 1/2-hour show that prizes were almost secondary.

Usher was backed by a string section as he sang There Goes My Baby. Drake, who was named best male hip-hop artist, performed his hit Thank Me Later. B.o.B. was joined by Keyshia Cole, and later Eminem, on Airplanes. Eminem continued with his new single, Not Afraid, backed by a choir. Trey Songz, who was named best male R&B artist, crooned his hit, Yo Side of the Bed, as a banner on stage behind him read, "pray for our soldiers and their families."

Alicia Keys performed a medley of her hits, bookended by two awards. She won for female R&B artist and best collaboration for her song with Jay-Z, Empire State of Mind.

John Legend was presented with BET's humanitarian award for his work on the Show Me Campaign, which aims to eradicate poverty worldwide through education and health care. He challenged his peers to become humanitarians as well.

"There's a lot of money, fame and influence in this room tonight," Legend said. "So I say to all of us: We can do better, we can make this world better. Let's not waste this opportunity."

The BET Awards honor the year's best in music, sports and film in 19 categories. Winners are selected by a voting academy comprising industry insiders and executives, music journalists and a group of fans randomly selected by BET.com.

Serena Williams won sportswoman of the year and LeBron James was sportsman of the year. Beyonce and Lady Gaga weren't on hand to accept their award for video of the year for Video Phone, nor was Rihanna around to collect the viewer's choice award for her song with Young Jeezy, Hard.

Sunday's show also introduced emerging musicians to the audience through BET's Music Matters initiative, and shined a spotlight on four citizens who are contributing to their communities through education and outreach.

Ludacris was surrounded by female violinists and backed by Tommy Lee on drums as he performed My Chick Bad. Then, a marching band joined him on stage — as did DJ Khaled, T-Pain, Ross and Minaj — to close the show with the rousing Hands Up.