AceShowbiz - Michael Jackson's father fears the King of Pop's doctor will be acquitted of manslaughter as the medic's preliminary hearing begins in Los Angeles. Joe Jackson is appalled by suggestions his son took his own life and administered the anesthetic that killed him in June 2009, but he worries that the claim by Dr. Conrad Murray's lawyers will be enough to plant doubt in the minds of the court officials.

The Jackson family patriarch tells X17.com his son had too much to live for to take his own life, "He had too much responsibility. He's a Jackson, he doesn't think like that." And Jackson insists there's more to the tragedy than a simple case of a doctor making a mistake, "One month before he died he told (his mother) Katherine they were going to kill him for his publishing catalog. He said they were going to kill him. Why would he kill himself?"

As for what he thinks will happen to Murray, Jackson tells the website, "They're going to get the doctor off." The trial is expected to last two weeks, with both sides presenting strong cases for what they are trying to prove happened on the morning of 25 June, 2009.

Court proceedings began shortly after 9 A.M. local time on Tuesday, January 4. Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter and the hearing is being held to determine if there is enough evidence to take the matter to trial. The doctor has pleaded not guilty.

Joe Jackson is expected to attend the hearing on Wednesday, January 5. His wife Katherine and their children Tito, Jermaine and La Toya were present as Tuesday's hearing got underway.

Alberto Alvarez, the bodyguard who phoned emergency services after Jackson went into cardiac arrest on 25 June, 2009 is expected to take the stand on Tuesday, as is Jackson's former chief of staff Michael Amir and Faheem Muhammad, chief of security. The employees are being represented by Carl Douglas, who was a member of O.J. Simpson's defense team and previously served as an attorney for Jackson in 1993.