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I suspect that Dr. Conrad Murray was railroaded by the criminal justice system. I view Michael Jackson's death as a tragic accident, not murder or manslaughter.
Nov. 7, 2011 5:01 PM ET Jackson doctor convicted in star's 2009 drug death LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Jackson's doctor was convicted Monday of involuntary manslaughter after a trial that painted him as a reckless caregiver who administered a lethal dose of a powerful anesthetic that killed the pop star. The verdict against Dr. Conrad Murray marked the latest chapter in one of pop culture's most shocking tragedies — the death of the King of Pop on the eve of the singer's heavily promoted comeback concerts. Members of Jackson's family, including his sister LaToya, wept quietly after the verdict was read. "Michael was looking over us," LaToya said on the way out of the courtroom. Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, said she was confident the trial's outcome would be a guilty verdict. Murray sat stone-faced during the verdict and was handcuffed and taken into custody without bail until sentencing on Nov. 29. He appeared calm as officials led him out of the courtroom. There was a shriek in the courtroom when the verdict was read, and the crowd erupted outside the courthouse. The jury deliberated less than nine hours. Murray, 58, faces a sentence of up to four years in prison. He could also lose his medical license. Murray's attorneys left the courtroom without commenting. In Las Vegas, a former Murray patient and current friend, Donna DiGiacomo, sobbed and said she thought the jury was under "overwhelming pressure to convict." Jackson died on June 25, 2009. The complete story of his death finally emerged during the six-week trial. It was the tale of a tormented genius on the brink of what might have been his greatest triumph with one impediment standing in his way — extreme insomnia. Testimony came from medical experts, household employees and Murray's former girlfriends, among others. The most shocking moments, however, came when prosecutors displayed a large picture of Jackson's gaunt, lifeless body on a hospital gurney and played the sound of his drugged, slurred voice, as recorded by Murray just weeks before the singer's death. Jackson talked about plans for a children's hospital and his hope of cementing a legacy larger than that of Elvis Presley or The Beatles. "We have to be phenomenal," he said about his "This Is It" concerts in London. "When people leave this show, when people leave my show, I want them to say, 'I've never seen nothing like this in my life. Go. Go. I've never seen nothing like this. Go. It's amazing. He's the greatest entertainer in the world.'" Throughout the trial, Jackson family members watched from the spectator gallery, fans gathered outside with signs and T-shirts demanding, "Justice for Michael," and an international press corps broadcast reports around the world. The trial was televised and streamed on the Internet. Prosecutors portrayed Murray as an incompetent doctor who used the anesthetic propofol without adequate safeguards and whose neglect left Jackson abandoned as he lay dying. Murray's lawyers sought to show the doctor was a medical angel of mercy with former patients vouching for his skills. Murray told police from the outset that he gave Jackson propofol and other sedatives as the star struggled for sleep to prepare for his shows. But the doctor said he administered only a small dose on the day Jackson died. Lawyers for Murray and a defense expert blamed Jackson for his own death, saying the singer gave himself the fatal dose of propofol while Murray wasn't watching. A prosecution expert said that theory was crazy. Murray said he had formed a close friendship with Jackson, never meant to harm him and couldn't explain why he died. The circumstances of Jackson's death at the age of 50 were as bizarre as any chapter in the superstar's sensational life story. Jackson was found not breathing in his own bed in his rented mansion after being dosed intravenously with propofol, a drug normally administered in hospitals during surgery. The coroner ruled the case a homicide and the blame would fall to the last person who had seen Jackson alive — Murray, who had been hired to care for the singer as the comeback concerts neared. Craving sleep, Jackson had searched for a doctor who would give him the intravenous anesthetic that Jackson called his "milk" and believed to be his salvation. Other medical professionals turned him down, according to trial testimony. Murray gave up his practices in Houston and Las Vegas and agreed to travel with Jackson and work as his personal physician indefinitely. For six weeks, as Jackson undertook strenuous rehearsals, Murray infused him with propofol every night, the doctor told police. He later tried to wean Jackson from the drug because he feared he was becoming addicted. Jackson planned to pay Murray $150,000 a month for an extended tour in Europe. In the end, the doctor was never paid a penny because Jackson died before signing the contract. During the last 24 hours of his life, Jackson sang and danced at a spirited rehearsal, reveling in the adulation of fans who greeted him outside. Then came a night of horror, chasing sleep — the most elusive treasure the millionaire entertainer could not buy. Testimony showed Murray gave Jackson intravenous doses that night of the sedatives lorazepam and midazolam. Jackson also took a Valium pill. But nothing seemed to bring sleep. Finally, Murray told police, he gave the singer a small dose of propofol — 25 milligrams — that seemed to put him to sleep. The doctor said he felt it was safe to leave his patient's bedside for a few minutes, but Jackson was not breathing when he returned. Witnesses said he was most likely dead at that point. What happened next was a matter of dispute during the trial. Security and household staff described Murray as panicked, never calling emergency services but trying to give Jackson CPR on his bed instead of the firm floor. A guard said Murray was concerned with packing up and hiding medicine bottles and IV equipment before telling him to call emergency services. Prosecutors said Murray was distracted while Jackson was sedated, citing Murray's cell phone records to show he made numerous calls. Authorities never accused Murray of intending to kill the star, and it took eight months for them to file the involuntary manslaughter charge against him. It was the lowest possible felony charge involving a homicide. There was no law against administering propofol or the other sedatives. But prosecution expert witnesses said Murray was acting well below the standard of care required of a physician. They said using propofol in a home setting without lifesaving equipment on hand was an egregious deviation from that standard. They called it gross negligence, the legal basis for an involuntary manslaughter charge. The defense team countered with its own expert who presented calculations suggesting that Jackson gave himself the fatal dose. In closing arguments, the prosecutor said the mystery of what happened behind the closed doors of Jackson's bedroom on the fatal day probably would never be solved. ___ Associated Press writers Anthony McCartney in Los Angeles and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed to this story.
Conrad Murray defense team had little chance, experts say By Jack Leonard and Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times November 7, 2011, 7:15 p.m. Defense attorneys fighting to acquit Michael Jackson's personal physician of an involuntary manslaughter charge in the pop star's death faced what many legal experts said was a series of insurmountable obstacles. The lawyers had to overcome an incriminating interview their client gave detectives; contend with a victim loved by millions around the globe; and deal with a series of court rulings that limited their attempts to point the finger at another possible culprit: The King of Pop himself. Jurors were not allowed to hear evidence that Dr. Conrad Murray's defense team hoped would bolster their argument that Jackson was so drug-addled and starved for sleep that he accidentally overdosed on a surgical anesthetic as he prepared for a long-awaited comeback tour. Even a key defense witness inflicted damage to the physician's case. Murray's medical expert conceded last week that the Houston cardiologist violated medical standards by administering the powerful sedative propofol in the bedroom of Jackson's rented Holmby Hills home. "The defense was hamstrung from the get-go," said defense lawyer Mark Geragos, who represented Jackson in the early stages of the singer's trial on child molestation charges nearly a decade ago. Veteran defense lawyer Robert A. Schwartz said he was surprised that Murray's lead attorney, the Texas-based lawyer Ed Chernoff, didn't emphasize more that most accusations against physicians are handled in civil, not criminal, court. Nevertheless, Schwartz described an acquittal as a long shot and said Chernoff's best hope was to try to sway one or two jurors to cause a deadlock. "I wouldn't expect that 12 jurors would all vote not guilty," Schwartz said. Prosecutors argued that Murray, hired as Jackson's $150,000-a-month concert doctor, bore criminal responsibility for his death on June 25, 2009. They said he injected Jackson with a drug, propofol, that should never be used outside a surgical setting and then left him unattended. Deputy Dist. Atty. David Walgren pointed to a 21/2-hour interview Murray gave Los Angeles police robbery-homicide detectives two days after Jackson's death. During the interview, Murray admitted treating his patient's chronic insomnia with propofol — "milk," as Jackson called it — but said he was trying to wean the singer off the drug. He acknowledged administering the anesthetic to Jackson on the night of his death and leaving the pop icon alone so the doctor could use the bathroom. Murray's defense team tried to introduce evidence developing their contention that Jackson was hooked on the narcotic Demerol, financially desperate and under intense pressure to deliver on his comeback tour to pay off debts and resurrect his music career. But the defense strategy sustained a blow before the trial when Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor barred Murray's attorneys from calling more than a dozen witnesses. The judge ruled that their testimony would divert jurors from what should be the focus of the trial: whether Murray acted recklessly or with criminal negligence during his care of Jackson. "The defense's best argument was the one they couldn't fully make — that Michael Jackson was an accomplice to his own death and Dr. Murray was merely a scapegoat for a high-profile client," said Loyola Law School Professor Stan Goldman. Walgren argued that numerous actions by Murray that night amounted to criminal negligence, making the physician responsible for Jackson's death regardless of who injected the lethal dose. Witnesses testified that Murray delayed in calling 911, failed to tell medics and doctors about the use of propofol and did not keep medical records of the drugs he administered. Vesna Maras, a former Los Angeles County prosecutor, said the prosecution's evidence was overwhelming. Murray's conduct was so egregious, she said, that jurors probably would have reached the same verdict even if they had heard the excluded witnesses. "Can you imagine what would happen if that was allowed in every clinic in L.A. where the patient tells you what medication they need and the doctor is, 'Oh, OK,' " she said. "That's the amount of judgment Murray exercised in this case." jack.leonard@latimes.com andrew.blankstein@latimes.com Times staff writers Harriet Ryan and Victoria Kim contributed to this report.
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