Judge Michael Pastor agreed to give Dr Murray’s lawyers the time to discuss the medical examiner’s report with their own experts, saying the trial will resume at 8.30am on Wednesday (2.30am on Thursday AEDT).

Dr Murray, who has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, is accused of giving Jackson an overdose of propofol to help him sleep. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.

The forensic toxicology report two years ago found the cause of death to be acute intoxication of propofol, an anesthetic, but also noted the anti-anxiety drug lorazepam was in the singer’s system.

Defence lawyers have portrayed Jackson as a desperate addict and at first suggested he could have given himself an extra dose of propofol while the doctor was out of the room.

But in a surprise move they later dropped that claim and focused instead on the theory that a fatal cocktail was produced when the late singer administered himself some extra lorazepam.

Prosecutor David Walgren told the judge today that the defence’s theory that Jackson swallowed eight two-milligram lorazepam pills was “totally inconsistent” with evidence in the new report, which has not yet been shown at trial.

Defence lawyer Ed Chernoff, calling for the delay, insisted that Dr Murray’s team “have to have the ability to address” the issue before the trial resumes.

The trial in Los Angeles Superior Court is expected to last five weeks, until the end of October.