Today (June 25, 2011) marks two years since the shocking death of Michael Jackson, and unsurprisingly, controversy surrounding the singer has hardly died down.

In the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, accused of administering the pop icon’s fatal dose of meds, the defendant is allegedly maintaining his innocence so adamantly, TMZ reports that Murray wants to refuse any plea offer, including deals with no jail time.

Behind the scenes, Murray’s team just won court approval to view hours of outtakes from the MJ documentary ‘This Is It.’ In gaining access to the top-secret footage, the defense seeks proof that Jackson was unwell in the days before his 2009 cardiac arrest.

As for Jackson’s kids, Prince, Paris and Blanket were spotted taking in a movie on Friday. The three are in the care of their grandmother, Katherine Jackson, and reportedly thriving.

And outspoken as always about her family’s dramas, ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ contestant LaToya Jackson has been making the rounds promoting her upcoming book. In ‘Starting Over,’ she insists Murray is merely the fall guy in a broader conspiracy plot carried out to kill her brother.
“This is definitely something that was premeditated, that they had planned to do, and they planned to take my brother out, and my brother knew it, and that’s why my brother told me repeatedly….that this was going to happen to him,” she said in a recent interview, according to CBS News. “He explained to me, ‘It’s because of my catalog.'” (Michael Jackson co-owned the lucrative Sony/ATV catalog, including Beatles music.)

A flock of Michael Jackson devotees are expected at his Las Vegas estate today, which is open to the public in memory of the singer’s death. And later this year in Vegas, Cirque du Soleil kicks off ‘Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour.’ The musical extravaganza “turns his signature moves upside down” using acrobatics to interpret Jackson’s legacy, according to Boombox.

Finally, for fans who are flush with cash, Jackson’s iconic jacket from his 1983 ‘Thriller’ video goes up for auction this weekend, expected to fetch $400,000 — a pricey, but personal, piece of nostalgia that truly symbolizes the artist in his finest hour.