Conrad Murray's trial/ Day 09-29-2011

DR. CONRAD MURRAY [LIVE]
Manslaughter Trial -- Day 3

More key witnesses are set to take the stand today in the Dr. Conrad Murray manslaughter trial -- including Michael Jackson's bodyguard Alberto Alvarez, who claims Murray asked him to hide vials of medicine before calling 911 the day MJ died.

Also taking the stand will be Richard Senneff and Martin Blount -- the medics who first arrived to the scene and believe Dr. Murray withheld vital information during the rush to save MJ's life.



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PEOPLE VS. DR. CONRAD MURRAY
MJ's Security Guard:
Murray Had Me Remove Vials
Alberto Alvarez -- Michael Jackson's Security Guard Testifies
Updated 9/29/11 at 8:48 AM


Michael Jackson's security guard Alberto Alvarez -- the man who called 911 the morning MJ died -- just took the stand, claiming Murray asked him to remove several vials of Propofol before calling an ambulance.

* When Alvarez walked into MJ's room the day MJ died, the first thing he saw was Murray giving the singer chest compressions with one hand.
* Alvarez said MJ was on the far side of the bed, laying on his back, his hands were extended to the sides, his palms up, and his mouth and eyes were open. He said MJ appeared dead.
* Alvarez suddenly noticed Paris standing behind him, crying and screaming "Daddy!"
* Murray yelled at him, "Don't let them see their dad that way!"
* Alvarez quickly got Paris and Prince out of the room.
* When he came back, Murray grabbed a "handful" of vials asking him to put them in a plastic bag.
* He then asked Alvarez to put the plastic bag in a brown paper bag... and place that bag inside a blue bag.
* Murray also asked to remove one of the saline bags from the IV stand and put it in the blue bag as well.



* There were two saline bags on the stand, but Alvarez said Murray only cared about the one that had a vial in it as well as a "milky white substance" at the bottom of the bag.
* Murray then asked Alvarez to call 911 at exactly 12:20 pm.
* In the 911 call -- played to the jury -- Alvarez can be heard asking for ambulance telling the dispatcher, "he stopped breathing." He also tells the operator the man is not responding and that there's a doctor performing CPR on him. The dispatcher tells Alvarez to move Michael from the bed to the floor.
* Alvarez then helps Murray perform CPR. He says Dr. Murray told him it's the FIRST TIME he's ever done mouth-to-mouth. Murray then said, "I have to do it, he's my friend!"
* That's when the paramedics arrive and took over CPR.
* The paramedics rush MJ to the emergency room.
* Alvarez arrived at the hospital and was there when MJ was pronounced dead.
* Alvarez told prosecutors he has no animosity towards Dr. Murray and had no reason at the time to think Murray had done anything wrong.
* Alvarez says he's been offered $500,000 by the National Enquirer to talk about the events of that day but said he didn't do it. He said he's been financially "wiped out".

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Paris Jackson screamed 'Daddy' when she saw her dying father
By Alan Duke, CNN
September 29, 2011 --

Los Angeles (CNN) -- The man who called 911 to Michael Jackson's house began his testimony Thursday morning in the trial of Jackson's doctor and is expected to be followed by the two paramedics who responded with an ambulance.
Alberto Alvarez, who served as Jackson's logistics director, testified that Dr. Conrad Murray told him to gather up drug vials around Jackson's deathbed before he asked him to place the emergency call.

"He reached over and grabbed a handful of vials and he asked me to put them in a bag," Alvarez testified.
Prosecutors contend Murray was trying to gather up evidence of his criminal responsibility for Jackson's death, even before asking that someone call for an ambulance.

Alvarez described how Jackson's two oldest children, Prince and Paris, walked toward their father who was lying still on a bed with his eyes and mouth open, facing toward them.
"Paris screamed out 'Daddy!'" and she started crying, Alvarez said.
"Dr. Conrad Murray said 'Don't let them see their dad like this," Alvarez said. "I turned to the children and I told them 'Kids, don't worry, everything's going to be ok."

Thursday is the third day of testimony in Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial in connection with Jackson's June 25, 2009 death.
Lawyers for Murray must counter descriptions of their client as a cardiologist who couldn't perform basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques and someone who was more concerned with hiding evidence than saving his patient.

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren blamed Murray for Jackson's death, saying he abandoned "all principles of medical care" when he used the surgical anesthetic propofol to put Jackson to sleep every night for more than two months.
Conrad Murray's defense strategy Jackson's health 'over-exaggerated?' Michael Jackson's future plans revealed Jackson family 'reliving a nightmare'

The coroner ruled that Jackson's death was the result of "acute propofol intoxication" in combination with sedatives.
Defense lawyer Ed Chernoff contended that Jackson, desperate for sleep, caused his own death by taking a handful of sedatives and self-administering propofol while the doctor was out of the room.
One defense strategy is to point the finger at another doctor and Jackson as having a large role in his death, while arguing Murray was blind to what they were doing.

Jackson slurred his speech after visits to Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein, trips that became "very regular" for the pop star in the weeks before his death, Jackson's personal assistant testified Wednesday.
Murray's lawyers contend that Klein addicted the singer to Demerol during those visits, something Murray did not know about.
His withdrawal from that Demerol addiction was what kept Jackson awake despite Murray's efforts to put him to sleep with sedatives the morning he died, the defense contends, arguing that Klein is at least partly responsible for Jackson's death because of the Demerol.
When Michael Amir Williams, who was Jackson's personal assistant, testified Wednesday, Chernoff asked if he went to Klein's office with Jackson.

"At a certain point, it was very regular," Williams said.
Chernoff then asked Williams whether he'd ever heard Jackson talk slowly with slurred speech, as he did on an audio recording played in court Tuesday.
"Not that extreme, but I have heard him talk slow before," Williams said.

"And when he left Dr. Klein's office, have you observed him sometimes to talk slow?" Chernoff asked.
Sometimes, Williams replied, "he would talk slow like that. I never heard it that extreme, but I can definitely say he has come out, and he's a little slower."
Witnesses describe Jackson's last day Jackson's magician: He was a class act Murray trial: Jackson blame game fallout Jackson trainer, friend speaks of death Jackson chief security guard Faheem Muhammad, who often drove Jackson, followed Williams on the witness stand Wednesday afternoon.

"There were times he would go almost every day" to Klein's office, and Jackson often appear intoxicated when he left, Muhammad testified.
Jackson once told Muhammad that his frequent trips to the dermatologist were for treatment for a skin disease.
"My doctors tell me that I have to go, so I go," Muhammad said Jackson told him.

At the start of court proceedings Wednesday, Paul Gongaware, an executive with the company promoting Jackson's comeback concerts, said he noticed that Jackson had "a little bit of a slower speech pattern, just a slight slur in the speech" after a visit with Klein.
Medical records show that Klein gave Jackson numerous shots of Demerol in the weeks before his death, Chernoff told jurors Tuesday.

"Dr. Klein did not do anything that was medically inappropriate," Klein's lawyer, Garo Ghazarian, told HLN's "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell" Wednesday.
The last time Klein gave Jackson drugs was more than three days before his death, Ghazarian said.
Jackson's inability to sleep the morning he died was "one of the insidious effects" of Demerol addiction withdrawal, Chernoff said. Since Murray did not know about the Demerol, he could not understand why Jackson was unable to fall asleep that morning, Chernoff said.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor previously ruled that while the jury can see some of the records of Klein's treatment of Jackson, the doctor would not testify. Demerol was not found in Jackson's body during the autopsy, which makes Klein's testimony irrelevant, Pastor ruled.

Testimony from Williams and Muhammad included emotional details about the chaos in the Jackson home and at the hospital the day Jackson died.
Williams described Wednesday as a frantic series of phone calls that started at 12:13 p.m. June 25, 2009, the day the pop icon died.
"Call me right away, please, call me right away," Murray said in a voice message to Williams, which prosecutors played in court Wednesday.

"Get here right away; Mr. Jackson had a bad reaction," Williams said Murray told him when he called him back.
Williams then ordered a security guard to rush to the upstairs bedroom where Murray was working to resuscitate Jackson.
Muhammad, one of those ordered upstairs, described seeing Jackson on a bed with his eyes open and his mouth "slightly opened" as Murray tried to revive him.
"Did he appear to be dead?" Walgren asked.
"Yes," Muhammad replied.

Jackson's two oldest children were standing just outside the room, watching in shock, Muhammad said.
"Paris was on the ground, balled up, crying. And Prince, he was standing there, he just had a real shocked, you know, slowly crying, type of shocked look on his face," he said.
His description of Murray's efforts to revive Jackson raised questions about Murray's knowledge of how to perform CPR.
It was several minutes before Alvarez, the head of security. called for an ambulance.

Williams and Muhammad later rode with Jackson's three children to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, following the ambulance that carried their father.
Jackson family members slowly arrived at the emergency room and joined the children, who were kept in a private room with their nanny while doctors tried to revive their father, Williams said.
"Dr. Murray and the doctors walked out, and they closed the curtain and said, 'He's dead,'" he testified.

Williams described what he called an odd request by Murray at the hospital for a ride back to Jackson's home after Jackson was pronounced dead.
Murray told Williams he needed to go back to retrieve "some cream" from Michael's bedroom that Jackson "wouldn't want the world to know about."
The prosecution contends that Murray wanted to retrieve evidence of his medical misconduct that led to Jackson's death.

A lawyer hired by concert promoter AEG to draw up the contract with Murray testified that Murray requested a CPR machine and money to hire a second doctor to help him care for Jackson.
The additional doctor and the CPR equipment were never provided, since the contract was not signed before Jackson died, attorney Kathy Jorrie testified.
She told the court that it was her understanding that Murray did not want the CPR unit or the additional doctor until he arrived in London with Jackson in July 2009 for the "This Is It" concerts.
"I asked Dr Murray, why do we need a CPR machine?" Jorrie testified.

Murray told her he needed it since "given (Jackson's) age and the strenuous performance he would be putting on, that if something went wrong, he would have it," she said.
The second doctor would be necessary because "if (Murray) was tired or unavailable, he wanted to make sure there was someone else to be of assistance" to Jackson.

AEG is being sued by Jackson's mother, Katherine, based on her contention that the concert promoter hired and controlled Murray when he was caring for her son.
The prosecution contends that part of the negligence that makes Murray criminally liable for Jackson's death is the lack of monitoring and CPR equipment on hand when Jackson died.

The trial began Tuesday with prosecutors playing a stunning audio recording of an apparently drugged Jackson slurring his words weeks before his death. Prosecutors also showed jurors a photo of Jackson's corpse on a hospital gurney.
If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Murray could spend four years in a California prison and lose his medical license.


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September 29, 2011 12:34 PM

Conrad Murray trial: Frantic scene after doctor found Jackson lifeless
By Crimesider Staff

(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES - Prosecutors are calling a key witness Thursday in an attempt to show jurors that Michael Jackson's doctor delayed calling authorities on the day the King of Pop was found lifeless. They are trying to show that he was intent on concealing indications that he had been giving the singer doses of a surgical anesthetic.

Pictures: Who's who in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray
Video: Dr. Conrad Murray manslaughter trial begins

As the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray enters its third day, testimony will keep jurors focused on events in Jackson's bedroom during the frantic moments when efforts were made to revive the unresponsive pop superstar.

The panel has already gotten a glimpse into the entertainer's inner sanctum through photos and testimony. On Thursday, they will hear from the first bodyguard to reach the room after Murray summoned for help.

In testimony during a preliminary hearing earlier this year, Alberto Alvarez said Murray ordered him to stash away vials of medicine and an IV bag before calling 911. Jackson, his eyes and mouth open, appeared to be dead, he said.

The bodyguard's testimony is crucial to prosecutors' contentions that Murray delayed calling 911 and was intent on covering up evidence that he had given Jackson propofol in his bedroom. This is a far different environment than the surgical settings where it is normally administered.

Alvarez's testimony will likely be challenged by Murray's defense attorneys, who on Wednesday questioned Jackson's head of security and the singer's personal assistant about why they didn't reveal certain details about the day Jackson died to police for at least two months. Defense lawyer Ed Chernoff asked Faheem Muhammad and Michael Amir Williams about whether they conferred with Alvarez before their interviews with detectives.

Williams, who was Jackson's personal assistant, said his interview with detectives had been delayed. He testified Wednesday that he received an urgent phone call from Murray on the day of Jackson's death but wasn't told to call 911. He called Muhammad, who then dispatched Alvarez to Jackson's bedroom on the second floor of the singer's rented mansion in the ritzy Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The room was off-limits to Jackson's staff and Muhammad paused before racing up the stairs after reaching the mansion just before paramedics arrived.

He described a heart-wrenching scene. By then, he said, Jackson had been removed from his bed and was on the floor, where Murray, sweaty and frantic, was performing CPR.

Alvarez was pacing nervously, Muhammad told the jury. When he saw Jackson up close, he understood why.

"What did you observe about his face," prosecutor David Walgren asked

"That his eyes were open," Muhammad said. "That his mouth was slightly open."

"Did he appear to be dead," Walgren asked.

"Yes."

The bodyguard soon noticed that Jackson's children, Prince and Paris, had gathered by the doorway.

"Paris was on the ground, balled-up crying," Muhammad said. He ushered the children out of the room, and then into a sport utility vehicle so they could follow the ambulance to the hospital.

Paparazzi were already swarming the perimeter of the mansion and were waiting at the hospital, Muhammad recalled.

Some of the scenes recounted by Muhammad will likely be repeated Thursday as prosecutors work to fill in other details about Murray's behavior after finding Jackson unconscious. Also expected to testify on Thursday are Kai Chase, a chef who spoke to Murray briefly on the morning of Jackson's death, and paramedics who also tried to revive the singer. The medics believed Jackson was already dead by the time they arrived but Murray insisted the performer be taken to a hospital for additional resuscitation efforts.

Prosecutors contend Murray did not tell any of the bodyguards or emergency personnel that he had been giving Jackson propofol and other sedatives to help him sleep.

Chernoff claimed in opening statements that Jackson gave himself the lethal dose.

Much of the trial in later sessions will focus on the science of what killed Jackson, and dueling theories of Murray's role.

For at least another day, jurors will hear from witnesses who knew him when he was alive.

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Jackson bodyguard says doc told him to hide vials

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer
Thursday, September 29, 2011

(09-29) 10:12 PDT LOS ANGELES, (AP) --

The first bodyguard to reach Michael Jackson's bedroom after the singer's doctor called for help testified Thursday that he was told by the doctor to gather medicine vials before calling 911.

Alberto Alvarez said Dr. Conrad Murray grabbed the vials form a nightstand next to Jackson, who was still in his bed.

"He said here, put these in a bag." Alvarez said of Murray.

Alvarez said at first he thought he was bagging the items in preparation for a trip to the hospital. He said he trusted Murray because he was a doctor.

When he entered the bedroom, Alvarez said, he saw Jackson's eyes were open and was surprised to see the singer was wearing a condom catheter.

Alvarez testified that Murray only told him Jackson had a bad reaction.

Alvarez is the sixth witness to testify in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Murray, who has pleaded not guilty.

Earlier, Alvarez testified that Jackson was in good spirits at a rehearsal on the night before he died.

"He was very happy," Alvarez testified. "I do recall he was in very good spirits."

Prosecutors have been calling witnesses who were with Jackson and Murray the day the singer died.

Authorities accuse Murray of giving Jackson a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol in the bedroom.

Prosecutors are calling key witnesses in an attempt to show Murray delayed calling authorities on the day the King of Pop was found lifeless and was intent on concealing indications that he had been giving the singer doses of the surgical anesthetic.

The jury has already gotten a glimpse into the entertainer's inner sanctum through photos and testimony.

Alvarez's testimony will likely be challenged by Murray's defense attorneys, who on Wednesday questioned Jackson's head of security and the singer's personal assistant about why they didn't reveal certain details about the day Jackson died to police for at least two months.

Defense lawyer Ed Chernoff asked Faheem Muhammad and Michael Amir Williams about whether they conferred with Alvarez before their interviews with detectives.

Williams, who was Jackson's personal assistant, said his interview with detectives had been delayed. He testified that he received an urgent phone call from Murray on the day of Jackson's death but wasn't told to call 911.

He called Muhammad, who then dispatched Alvarez to Jackson's bedroom on the second floor of the singer's rented mansion in the ritzy Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The room was off-limits to Jackson's staff, and Muhammad paused before racing up the stairs after reaching the mansion just before paramedics arrived.

He described a heart-wrenching scene. By then, he said, Jackson had been removed from his bed and was on the floor, where Murray, sweaty and frantic, was performing CPR.

Alvarez was pacing nervously, Muhammad told the jury. When he saw Jackson up close, he understood why.

"What did you observe about his face," prosecutor David Walgren asked

"That his eyes were open," Muhammad said. "That his mouth was slightly open."

"Did he appear to be dead," Walgren asked.

"Yes."

The bodyguard soon noticed that Jackson's children, Prince and Paris, had gathered by the doorway.

"Paris was on the ground, balled up crying," Muhammad said. He ushered the children out of the room, and then into a sport utility vehicle so they could follow the ambulance to the hospital.

Some of the scenes recounted by Muhammad will likely be repeated Thursday as prosecutors work to fill in other details about Murray's behavior after finding Jackson unconscious. Also expected to testify on Thursday are Kai Chase, a chef who spoke to Murray briefly on the morning of Jackson's death, and paramedics who also tried to revive the singer. The medics believed Jackson was already dead by the time they arrived, but Murray insisted the performer be taken to a hospital for additional resuscitation efforts.

Prosecutors contend Murray did not tell any of the bodyguards or emergency personnel that he had been giving Jackson propofol and other sedatives to help him sleep.

Chernoff claimed in opening statements that Jackson gave himself the lethal dose.

Much of the trial in later sessions will focus on the science of what killed Jackson, and dueling theories of Murray's role.


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Guard: Michael Jackson's Doctor Asked Him to Hide Vials
"Dr. Conrad Murray said, 'Don't let them see their dad like this'"
By Jonathan Lloyd and John Cadiz Klemack | Thursday, Sep 29, 2011

The first bodyguard to reach Michael Jackson's bedroom on the day the superstar died testified Thursday that the singer's personal physician told him to remove Jackson's children from the room before handing him several vials that he wanted placed in a bag.

Alberto Alvarez, a key witness in the involuntary manslaughter case against Dr. Conrad Murray, opened another day of testimony about what went on in the bedroom of the rented Holmby Hills mansion on June 25, 2009.

The Conrad Murray Trial: Juror Profiles, Case History, Who's Who | Testimony Timeline

Alvarez, who called 911 to report an unresponsive Jackson, went to the mansion after receiving a call from Jackson's personal assistant. He looked through a set of glass doors at the front entrance and saw Murray, Jackson, Jackson's daughter Paris and the Jackson nanny, Alvarez said Thursday.

Murray was on the second floor, looking down over a railing, he testified.

"Once I reached the top and I came to the landing, Dr. Conrad Murray was coming from a hallway toward the bedroom," Alvarez said. "He said, 'Alberto, come, come quick.'"

It was at that point, Alvarez said, that he understood the serious nature of the situation. He entered Jackson's bedroom behind Murray and saw the King of Pop motionless on the bed with his palms up, Alvarez said.

"Paris screamed out, 'Daddy,'" Alvarez testified. "Dr. Conrad Murray said, 'Don't let them see their dad like this.'"

Alvarez said he walked the children toward the landing area outside the bedroom.

Alvarez claimed Murray was on his knees and ordering him to stash several vials of medicine in a bag before telling him to call 911. Alvarez provided the same testimony at a pretrial hearing in January.

Murray grabbed the vials and said, "Here, put these in a bag," Alvarez testified. Alvarez said he held the bag open and Dr. Murray put the vials into it, then he was told to place that bag inside a larger brown bag.

Murray pointed to an IV stand and told Alvarez to grab the IV bag, Alvarez told the jury. The bottom of the bag contained a milky white substance, according to Alvarez.

"From my personal experience, I believed that Dr. Conrad Murray had the best of intentions for Mr. Jackson, so I didn't question his authority at the time," Alvarez said. "I thought they were getting packed to get ready to go to the hospital."

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren presented the witness with an IV bag that contained a bottle of porpofol. Alvarez identified the bag and bottle as the items he saw in the bedroom.

Proseuctors then played a 911 call from Alvarez.

"I need an ambulance as soon as possible, sir," Alvarez told the operator. "We have gentleman here that needs help. He's stopped breathing. He's not conscious, sir. He's on the bed."

The disptacher can be heard telling Alvarez to move Jackson to the floor.

Jackson's personal chef and two paramedics who responded to the home also are expected to testify Thursday. Family members arrived at the courthouse earlier than usual Friday as a crowd of Jackson fans and Murray supporters gathered at the entrance.

Early Thursday, Jackson's sister LaToya tweeted, "Been laying here N bed 4 the past hour thinkN about everything I've heard N court over the past 2 days, I'm SHOCKED by the lies!"

Prosecutors will attempt to show that Murray delayed calling 911 and was more concerned about covering up evidence that he had administered propofol in the bedroom of the rented Holmby Hills mansion. Murray is accused of administered the drug, then failing to properly monitor Jackson's condition.

But defense attorneys argue that it was Jackson who self-administered the fatal dose when Murray was out of the bedroom.

Testimony Focuses on Events in Bedroom, Hospital

The scene in the bedroom became a focus of the trial Wednesday with testimony from Jackson's staff, including head of security Faheem Muhammed and personal assistant Michael Amir Williams. Muhammed was among the first staff members to arrive.

"Paris was on the ground, balled up, crying,'' Muhammed said Wednesday.

Prince "had a shocked look," he added as Jackson's parents and siblings listened in the courtroom.

Both described a chaotic environment inside and outside the Carolwood Drive mansion. Murray called Williams, who was at his residence in downtown LA, with an urgent request that he come to the mansion, Williams testified Wednesday.

"He said, 'Get here right away, Mr. Jackson had a bad reaction. Get somebody up here immediately,''' Williams said.

When asked whether Dr. Murray asked him to call 911, Williams said no.

Before and during his 30- to 40-minute drive to the mansion, Williams said he was in contact with guards and other people at the mansion, including Muhammed. After escorting the two children from the room, Muhammed returned to the second-floor bedroom, and that's when Murray asked whether anyone knew CPR, he testified.

Murray asked because he wanted assistance, not because he wasn't familiar with CPR, his attorneys said.

"When you're doing CPR the first thing you ask is, 'Does anyone else know CPR,' so they can assist," said defense attorney John Michael Flanagan. "Two-man CPR is much more efficient than one-man CPR. Dr. Murray had been doing CPR for more than 15 or 20 minutes, and it's a very fatiguing thing."

Muhammed and Williams later accompanied the children to the hospital, where they waited in a private room before being told of Jackson's death. Williams testified that Murray approached him in the hospital hallway and asked for a ride back to the mansion to retrieve a "cream" in Jackson's bedroom.

"We were making small talk about how horrible this is, and he said, 'There's some cream in Michael's room that he wouldn't want the world to know about,'" said Williams. "He requested that I give him a ride back to the house so the world wouldn't know about the cream."

Both Williams and Muhammed said they denied Murray's request for a ride in the wake of Jackson's death.

Defense attorneys wanted to know why Muhammed and Williams did not reveal details about the day Jackson died to police until two months later. Muhammed and Williams were asked whether they wanted to confer with Alvarez before their interview with detectives.

Murray, 58, faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

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Michael Jackson 911 Call Played at Conrad Murray Trial
Published : Thursday, 29 Sep 2011


Los Angeles - Prosecutors played the Alberto Alvarez 911 call from Michael Jackson's home in its entirety in court on the third day of Conrad Murray's trial.
This is the transcript from the 911 call, which was placed at 12:20pm PT on June 25, 2009:
911 Operator: What is the address of your emergency?
Alberto Alvarez: I need an ambulance as soon as possible, sir
911 Operator: Ok sir, what's your address?
Alberto Alvarez: 100 North Carolwood Drive, Los Angeles California, 90077
911 Operator: Carolwood?
Alberto Alvarez: Carolwood Drive, yes,
911 Operator: Ok sir, what's the phone number you are calling from?
Alberto Alvarez: Sir, we have a gentleman here that needs help. He's stopped breathing, he's not breathing and we are trying to pump him, but he's not, he's not...
911 Operator: Ok ok, how old is he?
Alberto Alvarez: He's 50 years old, sir
911 Operator: Ok. He's not conscious, he's not breathing?
Alberto Alvarez: Yes, he's not breathing sir
911 Operator: And he's not conscious either?
Alberto Alvarez: No, he's not conscious sir
911 Operator: Ok (pause). Alright, is he on the floor, where's he at right now?
Alberto Alvarez: He's on the bed sir, he's on the bed
911 Operator: Ok let's get him on the floor
Alberto Alvarez: Ok
911 Operator: Ok let's get him down to the floor. I'm gonna help you with CPR right now, Ok
Alberto Alvarez: We need him... we need a...
911 Operator: Yes, we're already on our way there. We're on our way. I'm gonna do as far as I can to help you over the phone. We're already on our way. Did anybody see him?
Alberto Alvarez: Yes we have a personal doctor here with him, sir
911 Operator: Oh you have a doctor there?
Alberto Alvarez: Yes. But he's not responding to anything to no... no... he's not responding to the CPR or anything
911 Operator: Oh, OK. Well we're on our way there. If your guy is doing CPR and you're instructed by a doctor he has a higher authority than me. And he's there on the scene
Alberto Alvarez: Ok
911 Operator: Did anybody witness what happened?
Alberto Alvarez: No, just the doctor, sir. The doctor's been the only one here
911 Operator: Ok so did the doctor see what happened?
Alberto Alvarez: Doctor, did you see what happened sir? (inaudible voice) Sir, just, if you can please...
911 Operator: We are on our way. We are on our way. I'm just passing these questions on to my paramedics who are on their way there, sir.
Alberto Alvarez: Thank you sir. He's pumping, he's pumping his chest but he's not responding to anything sir. Please
911 Operator: Ok, OK, we are on our way. We are less than a mile away and we will be there shortly.
Alberto Alvarez: Thank you sir, thank you.
911 Operator: Ok sir. Call us back if you need any help. Thank you


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Conrad Murray Trial, Day 3: Security Guard Says Doctor Told Him to Collect Vials (Updated)

By Kimberly Potts at TheWrap
Thu Sep 29, 2011 7:48am EDT
During his testimony at Dr. Conrad Murray's manslaughter trial Thursday, Michael Jackson's former security guard, Alberto Alvarez, testified that Murray instructed him to collect a number of vials and stash them in numerous bags, along with a saline bag.

Alvarez (left) said that, when he arrived in Jackson's bedroom the date of his death, the singer was lying on his back and Murray was administering chest compressions to him.

He described Murray's frenzied state as he entered the bedroom that day.

"When I came into the room he said, 'Alberto hurry, we have to take him to the hospital we have to get him an ambulance,'" Alvarez recalled.

Alvarez also testified that Jackson was hooked up to a catheter, and there was tubing attached to his nose.

"While I was at the foot of the bed, he reached over and grabbed a handful of vials and said, 'Here, put these in a bag,'" Alvarez said.

According to Alvarez, after Murray placed the vials in a plastic bag, the then instructed Murray to put them in a brown bag, and then a blue bag.

Alvarez says Murray told him to remove a saline bag from an IV stand in Jackson's room and stash it in a bag. According to Alvarez, the bag had a bottle inside of it, and a "milky-white substance" at the bottom.

Alvarez testified that the bottle in the saline bag appeared to be a bottle of Propofol.

Alvarez said that there was another saline bag hanging from the IV stand without a bottle in it, which Murray did not instruct him to remove.

Asked why he thought Murray was asking him to collect the items, he replied, "I thought we were packing to get him ready to go to the hospital."

Alvarez, who was the first security person on the scene, made the 911 call that day. Thursday morning, jurors heard the 911 call that Alvarez placed on the day of Jackson's death.

In the call, which was placed at 12:20 p.m., Alvarez is heard telling the 911 operator, "We have a gentleman here who needs help; he's stopped breathing. We're trying to pump him, but … he's not conscious, sir."

Alvarez made the operator aware of Murray's presence, saying, "We have a personal doctor here, but he's not responding to the CPR or anything."

Asked by the operator if anyone had seen what had happened, Alvarez responded, "No, just the doctor sir ... He's pumping his chest, but he's not responding to anything."

Alvarez further trestified that, as he and Murray shifted Jackson in the bed, Alvarez noticed that a tube was connected from a bag hanging on the IV stand to Jackson's leg, which Conrad removed. Alvarez also told the court that Murray attached a heart monitor to Jackson's finger.

Murray then instructed Alvarez to administer chest compressions to Jackson, while Murray performed mouth-to-mouth.

"This is the first time that i do mouth-to-mouth, but I have to -- he's my friend," Alvarez recalled Murray saying.

Asked if there was any indication that Jackson was still alive the entire time that he was in the bedroom, Alvarez replied, "No."

Previously...

As the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray continues for its third day, a former Michael Jackson employee is expected to testify that Murray asked him to gather up drugs from Jackson's room before calling 911 on the day Jackson died.

Los Angeles Times reports. Murray is accused of administering too much of the powerful drug to the late pop star.

Read more: Conrad Murray Trial, Day 2: Assistant Says Doctor Tried to Get Back Into MJ's House (Live Feed)

Alvarez called 911 on June 25, 2009, the day Jackson died. Prosecutors contend the call was placed 25 minutes after Murray first discovered Jackson had stopped breathing.

Jackson's personal chef, Kai Chase, is also on the witness list for today. She testified during a January hearing that she was in the house when Murray "screamed to get help, to get (Jackson's son) Prince and to call for security."

Two paramedics who attempted to revive Jackson are also expected to testify. The two previously testified that Murray denied Jackson was taking any medications when they asked the doctor for his patient's history. Murray had actually been administering propofol to Jackson for several weeks to treat the entertainer's chronic insomnia.

Read more: Michael Jackson, Conrad Murray and the Stripper

The testimony will follow Wednesday's second day of the trial, during which Michael Jackson's head of security, Faheem Muhammad, and his personal assistant, Michael Williams, both testified that Murray tried to gain re-entry into Jackson's home after the singer was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.

Muhammad also shared sad details of how Jackson's oldest children, son Prince and daughter Paris, were witness to the medical trauma the day their father died. "Paris was on the ground balled up crying and Prince was standing there. He just had a shocked, slightly crying look on his face," said Muhammad, who said he took the children out of the room while Alvarez helped Dr. Murray administer CPR to Jackson.

The 58-year-old Murray is facing a possible four-year prison sentence and loss of his medical license if he's convicted in the trial. Murray has pleaded not guilty, and his defense will revolve around his contention that Jackson administered extra, ultimately lethal, doses of propofol to himself, without Murray's knowledge.

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Jackson Doctor Delayed Calling 911, Witness Says
By IAN LOVETT
Published: September 29, 2011

LOS ANGELES — One of Michael Jackson’s staff members testified on Thursday that on the day of the singer’s death, he saw Jackson lying on a bed while his personal physician gave him chest compressions with one hand. He also said the doctor had asked him to put various medical supplies in a bag before calling 911.
Related

Doctor Said Jackson Was in ‘Perfect Health,’ Witness Says (September 29, 2011)
Rival Views of Jackson as Doctor’s Trial Begins (September 28, 2011)
Times Topic: Conrad Murray

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Alberto Alvarez, Jackson’s director of logistics, said he had gone into Jackson’s bedroom in his rented Holmby Hills mansion once Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, realized that the singer was incapacitated after the doctor had injected him with a potent medicine.

Dr. Murray, 58, who is on trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the singer’s death, faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Mr. Jackson, 50, died June 25, 2009, after Dr. Murray gave him a dose of propofol, a surgical anesthetic the singer took to relieve his insomnia.

Prosecutors argue that Dr. Murray was negligent, first in regularly dispensing propofol to Jackson and then by failing to monitor the singer’s vital signs and to immediately seek emergency help as he lay dying.

Dr. Murray’s lawyers, however, have said that Jackson caused his own death by taking propofol by himself when Dr. Murray was using a restroom at Jackson’s mansion. The doctor’s lawyer, Ed Chernoff, said Jackson also got regular injections of a pain killer from another doctor, which Dr. Murray was unaware of.

Mr. Chernoff said during his opening statement that propofol, which is not commonly used outside medical facilities, could be administered safely at low levels.

On Thursday, Mr. Alvarez said he saw Jackson lying on his back with his eyes and mouth open while Dr. Murray tried to revive him.

“When I came into the room, he said, ‘Alberto, hurry, we have to get him to a hospital, we have to get an ambulance,’ ” Mr. Alvarez said.

Mr. Alvarez said that when he asked what had happened, Dr. Murray told him, “He had a bad reaction.”

Mr. Alvarez called 911, he said, following Dr. Murray’s instructions.

But before making the 911 call, he said, Dr. Murray instructed him to help put some medical supplies into a bag, including a handful of vials from Jackson’s nightstand and a saline bag with another bottle inside it from an IV stand.

Mr. Alvarez said he thought they were packing up the medicine to get ready to go to the hospital. When prosecutors on Thursday showed Mr. Alvarez a saline bag and a vial of propofol that the authorities had removed from the Jackson mansion, Mr. Alvarez said they looked like the materials the doctor had asked him to put in the bag.

The prosecution is seeking to establish that Dr. Murray delayed calling 911 and tried to conceal the drugs, including propofol, that he was giving Jackson.

On Wednesday, Michael Amir Williams, Jackson’s personal assistant, testified that after Jackson was pronounced dead at a hospital, Dr. Murray asked him to drive him to Jackson’s house so he could recover “some cream in Michael’s room or house that he wouldn’t want the world to know about.”

Mr. Williams said he refused that request, as well as a later request from Dr. Murray to take him to get something to eat.

Jackson’s head of security, Faheem Muhammad, testified that after Mr. Williams told him about his conversation with Dr. Murray, he decided not to allow Dr. Murray to re-enter the Jackson mansion.

Mr. Muhammad told the court that before Jackson was taken to the hospital, he walked into the singer’s bedroom to find Jackson incapacitated, his body lying on the floor, with Dr. Murray beside him. Mr. Muhammad said Dr. Murray, a cardiologist, had asked, “Does anyone know CPR?”

Mr. Muhammad said Jackson’s two older children — Prince and Paris — had been outside their father’s bedroom, crying. He said he took them to another room in the house.

Timothy Williams contributed reporting from New York.

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PEOPLE VS. DR. CONRAD MURRAY
Michael Jackson's Chef Testifies
Kai Chase -- Michael Jackson's Chef Testifies
Updated 9/29/11 at 2:35PM

Michael Jackson's personal chef Kai Chase -- who was present inside the house the morning MJ died -- has just taken the stand ...

* Chase said eating healthy was important to MJ. A typical breakfast would consist of granola and almond milk, beet juice or carrot/orange juice or an omelette with veggies.

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Conrad Murray trial Judge throws out viewer after using cellphone use

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Jodi Jill, National Celebrity Headlines Examiner
September 29, 2011

The rules of the courtroom were seen in full force on Thursday afternoon at the Conrad Murray trial. Judge Pastor paused the testimony of Alberto Alvarez during cross examination to deal with a matter regarding a cellphone. Giving a stern look and making a quick decision, the Judge threw out the individual in a mere minute.

According to witnesses inside the courtroom, an individual was using a cellphone while inside of the courtroom as the proceedings were in progress. The actions taken next were off camera, but those inside the courtroom say the individual was removed from the courtroom and the phone taken away.

One of the reporters watching the courtroom shared just how angered the judge looked in the violation of rules in the court proceedings.

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The third day of testimony in the manslaughter trial against former Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray once again featured former members of Jackson's staff, bodyguard Alberto Alvarez and chef Kai Chase.

Alvarez took the stand first Thursday (September 29) to describe his arrival on the scene. He claimed when he entered the room, he saw Murray performing chest compressions on Jackson with one hand, and that when Murray heard Alvarez enter, he made the frantic request for Alvarez to remove several vials of propofol -- the potent anesthetic that was part of the official cause of Jackson's death -- from the room before he called for an ambulance.

Jackson's former personal chef was next to testify. After going through a list of the food items she prepared regularly for MJ and his children, mostly healthy meals like granola with almond milk and juice blends, Chase revealed that on the day of Jackson's death, she was in the middle of preparing his lunch when a worried and panic-stricken Murray burst into the kitchen and shouted for her to "get help, get [son] Prince and get security." Chase said she "did as she was told" and went into the den to alert Prince and that she did her best to keep the children calm.

Testimony is set to resume again Friday at 8:45 a.m. PT. Murray has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and administering the dose of propofol that caused Jackson's death and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical license if found guilty.

Sep 29 2011 8:48 PM EDT 3,377
Michael Jackson's Bodyguard And Chef Testify
Both describe Dr. Conrad Murray as panicked on the day of MJ's death.
By Kara Warner

Jackson doctor tried to hide meds before calling 911, aide testifies
Security guard Alberto Alvarez says Conrad Murray asked him to gather drug vials and an IV bag before calling paramedics. The defense counters that a timeline of phone records contradicts Alvarez's account.



By Harriet Ryan and Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times
September 30, 2011
A lawyer for Michael Jackson's physician attacked the testimony of an important prosecution witness Thursday, suggesting his damning account of the doctor's actions was physically impossible and influenced by offers of huge sums from tabloids.

The witness, security guard Alberto Alvarez, is key to the prosecution's theory that Dr. Conrad Murray delayed calling for an ambulance for Jackson in order to hide evidence that the doctor had given the singer the dangerous surgical anesthetic propofol and other drugs.

But cross-examining Alvarez on the third day of Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial, a defense lawyer said phone records cast doubt on the witness' chronology. Those records established a window of approximately 30 seconds long for what the attorney identified as 14 separate events in Jackson's bedroom ranging from Alvarez's comforting of the singer's children to his placing pill bottles in bags.

"Do you think you could have performed all these events that are listed here in half a minute?" lawyer Ed Chernoff asked.

"I'm very efficient, sir," replied Alvarez, a burly man with a brush haircut and stony demeanor.

A prosecutor shot back by asking Alvarez whether many of the events enumerated by Chernoff had occurred simultaneously.

"This was all one fast-paced series of events?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Alvarez responded.

According to testimony, Alvarez ended a call with Jackson's personal assistant before he entered the singer's bedroom. The heart of Alvarez's testimony, which he gave first at a January hearing and reiterated on the witness stand Thursday, is his claim that before Murray asked him to dial 911, the doctor ordered him to gather up drug bottles, vials and an IV bag of a "milky, white substance." Propofol is white.

"I thought we were packing up for getting ready to go to the hospital," he testified, adding that at the time, he believed the doctor had "the best intentions."

Investigators later discovered bags containing 11 bottles of propofol stashed in a cabinet in another bedroom of Jackson's rented mansion.

Under cross-examination, Murray's lawyer implied that it made no sense for Murray to enlist Alvarez, whom he did not know well, in a cover-up.

"Can you think of any reason why Dr. Murray would think you would conspire with him to hide evidence," he asked. A prosecutor objected, and Judge Michael Pastor told him not to answer.

Alvarez acknowledged that when he talked briefly to police the day Jackson died, he told them that he had called 911. Two months later, he met with detectives at the office of a lawyer representing him and other security guards and gave a lengthy statement that included the allegations that he had put medical evidence in bags at Murray's request.

Alvarez had previously recounted fielding as many as 30 offers from media outlets to sell his story and said he had rejected them all, including a $500,000 deal, despite desperately needing money.

Chernoff pressed him about his dealings with tabloids in the period between his initial talk with police and his later interview. Alvarez said numerous outlets made overtures, including a London tabloid. That deal, he said, progressed far enough that a contract was drawn up.

"Would it be fair to say the story you gave on Aug. 31 was substantially more interesting than the one you gave" the day of Jackson's death, Chernoff asked.

The judge ordered Alvarez not to answer.

During Alvarez's testimony, prosecutors played jurors a recording of the 911 call the security guard placed. In it, he told an operator that he needed "an ambulance as soon as possible" for a 50-year-old man who had stopped breathing.

"We have a personal doctor here with him," Alvarez said, prompting the operator to ask if the doctor had seen what happened. The security guard relayed the question to Murray, who responded by yelling for paramedics to hurry.

"He's not responding to anything, sir," Alvarez added.

Murray looked stricken at the defense table as the security guard recounted the chaotic moments before he placed the call. Alvarez, who carried the title of head of logistics, said Murray was making a haphazard attempt at CPR. Jackson was on a soft surface — his mattress — and Murray was using just one hand, he said.

At one point, Alvarez said, the cardiologist asked, "Does anybody know CPR?"

He choked up as he recalled how Jackson's two older children had witnessed the attempts to revive their father.

"Paris screamed out, 'Daddy,'" Alvarez said, his eyes wet. He said he ushered her and her brother Prince out of the room with assurances that "everything will be OK."

Murray, 58, contends Jackson administered the fatal dose of propofol. He faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted.


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Conrad Murray: Michael Jackson's chef Kai Chase says doctor asked for Prince

Katrina K Wheeler, Jackson Family Examiner
September 30, 2011

The personal chef of Michael Jackson, Kai Chase took to the witness stand in the Conrad Murray trial. She revealed what she experienced as the chef for the superstar, and what she witnessed on June 25, 2009. One of the key things that Chase stated in testimony is that Conrad Murray was frantic on the day, and that he asked for Jackson's oldest son, Prince Michael Jackson to go upstairs.

The highlights of Kai Chase' testimony are as follows:

Chase was a full-time chef for Jackson (6 days a week)
Michael Jackson liked meals served on time
Conrad Murray would frequently take Michael Jackson breakfast to another location in the home, not in the kitchen
On June 25, Conrad Murray did not go downstairs to get Jackson's breakfast
On June 25, Chase saw Murray go to the kitchen from the stairs in a frantic between 12:05-12:10
Chase said Murray's energy was nervous, and he shouted: "get help, get security, get Prince"
Murray did not ask Chase to call 911


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