Conrad Murray's trial/ Day 10-04-2011

Woman Says Call With Jackson Doc Interrupted

Dr. Conrad Murray, center, listens to... View Full Caption

Sade Anding says she heard voices, coughing and mumbling on Dr. Conrad Murray's end of the line. She told jurors in Murray's involuntary manslaughter case that it sounded like his cell phone was in his pocket.

Anding says Murray called her at 11:51 a.m. on June 25, 2009. About five or six minutes into their call is when she noticed Murray was no longer paying attention.

Murray has pleaded not guilty. Authorities are focusing on his phone records to try to show he was distracted when he should have been caring for Jackson.

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Michael Jackson Doc Conrad Murray Ordered Hundreds of Vials of Propofol, Bleaching Cream: Pharmacist

By JIM AVILA (@JimAvilaABC) , BRYAN LAVIETES, KAITLYN FOLMER (@ABCKaitlyn) and JESSICA HOPPER (@jesshop23)
Oct. 4, 2011
The manager of a specialty pharmacy testified in the Conrad Murray manslaughter trial that Michael Jackson's doctor ordered 255 vials of the powerful anesthetic propofol and never revealed that the medicines were for Jackson.

"He asked me specifically to find pricing and availability of propofol and normal saline IV bags," said pharmacist Tim Lopez.

Lopez, the owner and pharmacist of the now shuttered Applied Pharmacy Services, said that Conrad Murray said the orders were for his medical practice in California. The Santa Monica, Calif., address where Murray had hundreds of vials of propofol, sedatives, bleaching cream and IV bags delivered turned out to be the address of his girlfriend's apartment.

Murray's girlfriend Nicole Alvarez testified about receiving the packages and said that Murray only had medical practices in Texas and Nevada.

Murray could face four years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the overdosing death of Jackson. Jackson died of a drug overdose of propofol on June 25, 2009, at age 50.

The pharmacist and the doctor first crossed paths in November 2008 when Murray called Lopez to inquire about skin bleaching cream, benequin, Lopez said.

"He was looking for a specific dermatological agent that is used for whitening of the skin …he mentioned that a lot of his patients were African American and they could use this medication," Murray said.


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Prosecution witness Tim Lopez testifies in... View Full Size

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Murray told Lopez that his "patient base" was suffering from vitiligo. Rumors that Jackson bleached his skin had long swirled around the singer.

The orders for bleaching cream spiraled into orders for IV bags, numbing cream, 255 vials of propofol, 20 vials of lorazepam and 60 vials of midazolam. Lorazepam and midazolam are both sedatives. Murray's defense team claims that Jackson gave himself a fatal combination of propofol and lorazepam without Murray's knowledge on the day he died.

ABC News has learned from sources close to the investigation that all propofol bottles found in Jackson's bedroom or on Murray did not have Jackson's fingerprints on them. That revelation may deal a blow to the defense's theory.

Prosecutors argue that Murray recklessly administered propofol and other drugs to his patient, and that when he should have been monitoring Jackson, he was talking to his girlfriends on the phone.

Lopez testified that he heard from Murray on either June 23 or June 24, 2009, just days before Jackson died.

"The initial call was to the office and my clerk answered the phone … she had a hard time understanding what he was saying … I took the phone and again he was talking to me, but I couldn't really figure out what he was saying because there was a lot of noise in the background like an open window in the car," Lopez said.

Lopez hung up and the two never finished their conversation.

Lopez's testimony followed the testimony of three of Dr. Murray's girlfriends who told jurors that they exchanged phone conversations or text messages with Murray on the day Jackson died.

Nicole Alvarez, the 29-year-old mother of one of Murray's seven children, said she spoke to him while he was in the ambulance with Jackson.

"I remember him telling me that he was on the way to the hospital in the ambulance with Mr. Jackson and for me not to be alarmed … because he knew I would learn this through the news," she said.


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October 4, 2011 1:28 PM
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Dr. Conrad Murray's ex-girlfriend says their phone call was interrupted


(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES - A woman who was speaking on the phone with the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death the day the singer died says the call was interrupted and the physician was no longer paying attention to her.

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

Sade Anding says she heard voices, coughing and mumbling on Dr. Conrad Murray's end of the line. She told jurors in Murray's involuntary manslaughter case that it sounded like his cell phone was in his pocket.

Anding, Murray's former girlfriend, says Murray called her at 11:51 a.m. on June 25, 2009. About five or six minutes into their call is when she noticed Murray was no longer paying attention.

Prosecutors in the manslaughter trial against Michael Jackson's personal physician are keeping jurors focused on the doctor's phone records from the day the King of Pop died. They are attempting to show that Dr. Conrad Murray was trying to juggle his medical practice, personal life and superstar patient all at the same time.

Testimony Monday was heavily centered on the calls Murray made and received on June 25, 2009, with witnesses ranging from the Houston-based cardiologist's patients, a doctor seeking advice, and a woman who had dated Murray.

Murray has pleaded not guilty. Authorities contend he gave the singer a lethal dose of propofol and other sedatives. Murray's attorneys claim Jackson gave himself the fatal dose. If convicted, Murray faces four years behind bars and the loss of his medical license.


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Prosecutors Say Phone Records Show Murray Not Focused on MJ

Dr. Conrad Murray talked and texted with friends, colleagues and relatives in the period when Michael Jackson was under propofol, according to records.

(LA Times) - There were only two people in Michael Jackson’s bedroom the morning he stopped breathing: the singer and the doctor now on trial in his death. But prosecutors suggested another source of information Monday: Dr. Conrad Murray’s cellphones.
Records presented as Murray’s involuntary manslaughter trial entered its second week showed the doctor used a pair of cellphones to talk to and text patients, his daughter, a love interest and others in the period leading up to Jackson’s overdose.
Prosecutors have said the communications are proof the doctor was not focused on Jackson while he was administering a powerful anesthetic that required constant monitoring of the singer’s vital signs. Jackson died June 25, 2009, with a lethal amount of propofol in his system.
In the hours before Murray found Jackson unresponsive in bed, the doctor placed five phone calls, received six others and sent numerous text messages and emails, the records indicate.
He spent 46 minutes of the final hour on the phone, talking to his Las Vegas office for more than half an hour. A Houston waitress whom Murray was dating is expected to testify that he abruptly ended their conversation about noon, when prosecutors contend Murray discovered his patient wasn’t breathing.
Some of the records are difficult to square with a timeline Murray laid out for police. In an interview with detectives two days after Jackson’s death, Murray said he was looking closely at his watch as he treated the pop star. He said Jackson began begging for the propofol at 10 a.m., saying he would have to cancel concert rehearsals if he couldn’t sleep. He said he finally gave in to Jackson’s requests about 10:40.
But the phone records show Murray spent eight minutes on the phone with an employee in his Las Vegas office during this period, concluding the call about 10:42.
The records also raise questions about how much time Murray was spending in Jackson’s presence. He told detectives that he left Jackson’s bedroom for two minutes to use the restroom, but the records show lengthy conversations, including a 22-minute call with his daughter, during the time Jackson was struggling to fall asleep. Murray told detectives how he had tried to set a relaxed mood in the bedroom, closing the drapes, playing soft music and urging the singer to meditate.
Prosecutors summoned to the witness stand four people who had phone contact with Murray that day, including a former patient, a woman who answered phones in his office and a Houston internist who called him that morning to discuss a shared patient. Dr. Joanne Prashad said she was struck by how familiar Murray was with the patient even though he was not in his office or able to review the patient’s chart.
“I was impressed,” Prashad said.
Jurors also heard testimony from two members of a team of doctors who tried to save Jackson’s life in the emergency room at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Both physicians said they had repeatedly asked Murray what drugs he had given Jackson and that he acknowledged giving the singer small doses of the sedative lorazepam. He never mentioned propofol, they said.
On cross-examination, Dr. Richelle Cooper, one of the UCLA doctors, acknowledged that Jackson would have died even if she had known that he had been given propofol.
“The minute he comes in the hospital, there’s no chance?” asked defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan.
“Knowing everything I know now, that would be correct,” Cooper said.
The other physician, Dr. Thao Nguyen, said Murray told her he didn’t wear a watch and had no idea what time he had given the sedative or found Jackson lifeless. She said he seemed “devastated” and urged her to try extreme measures.
“Do not give up easily. Please try to save his life,” Nguyen recalled Murray saying.
She said she had never heard of anyone using propofol in a home setting without respiratory and heart monitors.
“Propofol does not have an antidote, so we have to prepare for the worst,” Nguyen said.


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Pharmacist Testifies That Conrad Murray Lied, Doctor's Girlfriends Take Stand
6:39 PM PDT 10/4/2011 by THR staff

On the afternoon the singer died, Nicole Alvarez, mother to Murray's young son, said on Tuesday that she received a call from the doctor telling her "not to be alarmed."
A cocktail waitress and girlfriend of Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, took the stand on Tuesday, recalling the phone call that Murray made after he realized the singer was not breathing.
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Sade Anding told the jury that she received a phone call from Murray at 11:51 a.m., Los Angeles Times reports, the morning Jackson died on June 25, 2009. Five to six minutes in, Murray could no longer be heard on the other end of teh phone, Anding said. She recalled telling him about her day "and that's when I realized he was no longer on the phone," she said.
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Michelle Bella testified that Murray sent a text message that same morning. An employee who worked for Murray also took the stand, recalling the phone calls she had with Murray in the Jackson's final hours.
Nicole Alvarez, the mother to Murray's young son, said that Murray would leave their Santa Monica apartment at night -- around 9 p.m. -- to take care of Jackson. She noted that Murray would oftentimes return early the next morning, but soon would not return until closer to 9 a.m. or even later. (Alvarez first met Murray in 2005 in Las Vegas.)
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She said that Murray told her in 2008, he told her he was Jackson's doctor and took her to meet the singer. Alvarez testified that she received seven packages at her apartment for Murray, which prosecutors said included the anesthetic that was ruled to have caused Jackson's death. She said she often picked up Murray's packages, but had no knowledge of what was in them and never asked.
The day Jackson died, she recalled receiving a phone call at 1 p.m. from Murray telling her he was en route to the hospital and "not to be alarmed."
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When asked about the contract between AEG and Murray that was faxed to her apartment (which she had see that the doctor would receive $150,000 per month), Alvarez said she couldn't recall those specific details.
Among the bevy of witnesses who took the stand included a pharmacist, Tim Lopez, who testified that he sent amounts of propofol to Murray, who claimed that it was for several patients he oversaw -- which he didn't have. Lopez said that the orders increased from 35 vials in early April to 64 vials in late April and mid-May. In June, Murray placed his biggest order: 90 vials, Fox 11 News reports.
Murray faces four years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter and lose his medical license.

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DR. MURRAY'S BABY MAMA
I'm Ready for My Close-Up!!!!!


There's no bigger stage for an aspiring actress than the Conrad Murray manslaughhter trial -- and today, the doc's 29-year-old baby mama is NAILING her biggest audition ever!!!

Nicole Alvarez -- a former Vegas stripper Murray met in 2005 -- is flashing her BIG, GIANT, er, smile on the stand right now ... and during her testimony, she's proved she's got some serious emotional RANGE!!!

Just check out the pics below -- think she'll get a gig out of this???

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Michael Jackson - Conrad Murray Made Call In Ambulance
04 October 2011


Dr. Conrad Murray called lover Nicole Alvez when he was in an ambulance with Michael Jackson on the day he died, she told the court today (04.10.11).
Dr. Conrad Murray called his lover on the way to hospital with Michael Jackson.
Nicole Alvez - the mother of the physician's youngest son - told Los Angeles Superior Court today (04.10.11) that the doctor called her at around 1pm on 25 June 2009 and told her they were in an ambulance with the singer after he had been discovered unconscious at home.
She said: "I remember him telling me that he was on the way to the hospital in the ambulance with Mr. Jackson, and for me not to be alarmed."
Nicole met the doctor in 2005 and said on the stand she was told he was Michael's physician a year before he passed away, and had met the King of Pop on several occasions.
Recalling her first meeting with the star in Las Vegas, where Murray has a medical practice, Nicole smiled as she told the court: "I was speechless. I couldn't believe I was meeting Michael Jackson."
In her testimony, Nicole said that after April 2009, Murray regularly left her apartment at night to return early the next day, and stated she knew the doctor was working with the 'Thriller' hitmaker as he prepared for a 50-date comeback residency in London.
Nicole admitted she received seven FedEx packages at her apartment for Murray - which prosecutors claim contained Propofol, the drug which killed Michael - but did not know what they contained, even though she often picked up or signed for the parcels.
Also testifying today was Sade Anding, a waitress who met Murray in a steakhouse in 2009, who told the court she had chatted with the doctor on the phone just before midday when she suddenly found he was no longer paying attention to her and had apparently put the phone in his pocket without hanging up.
She recalled: "I asked Dr. Murray how he was doing. He said, 'Well,' and he paused. I started telling him about my day. That's when I realised he was no longer on the phone.
"I heard mumbling of voices and I heard coughing,"
Murray denies charges of involuntary manslaughter but faces four years in prison if found guilty.
The case continues.

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Doctor’s Girlfriends Testify About Day Michael Jackson Died

Three girlfriends of Conrad Murray took the stand Tuesday as prosecutors tried to portray the doctor as distracted by his personal life when he should have been monitoring his patient, Michael Jackson, to whom he was administering extremely powerful sedatives.
Testimony zeroed in on calls made on June 25, 2009, the day Jackson died from “acute propofol intoxication,” according to his autopsy. The judge limited the prosecution’s ability to question the women about their personal relationships with Murray outside the context of that date.
Particularly significant testimony came from Sade Anding, a Houston cocktail waitress with whom prosecutors alleged Murray may have been on the phone when he noticed Jackson was unresponsive. Anding received a call from Murray at 11:51 am on June 25. About fix or six minutes into that conversation, Anding said Murray stopped speaking and it sounded like the phone was in his pocket as she heard mumbling and coughing for several minutes before she hung up.
On cross examination, Anding acknowledged that she did not know whether the coughing was coming from Jackson.
That call would have ended a few minutes before the time that Jackson’s chef, Kai Chase, testified previously Murray came downstairs frantically seeking help, and about 20 minutes before one of Jackson’s security guards called 911 at Murray’s request.
Another girlfriend, Nicole Alvarez—who had a child with Murray in March 2009—testified about the excitement of meeting Michael Jackson when he was Murray’s patient. She also confirmed that Murray had several packages delivered to her apartment between April and June of that year.
Alvarez said she did not open those packages or ask Murray what was in them, but Las Vegas pharmacist Tim Lopez testified that he sent a total of 225 propofol vials, containing approximately four gallons of the drug, to Murray at her address during that time, along with supplies of several other drugs.
Alvarez received a call from Murray on June 25, 2009 while he was in the ambulance transporting Jackson to the hospital. She said he called because he did not want her to be alarmed when she heard what happened on the news.
Another woman, Michelle Bella, who met Murray at a Las Vegas social club in 2008, testified that she received a text message from him on the morning of June 25, but the judge did not allow the jury to hear what was in the message.
Testimony at Murray’s trial for involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death continues Wednesday.

October 5, 2011
Dr. Murray's exes deliver legal sucker punch

Call it a case of the exes striking back.

One by one, starting late on day five of the trial and dominating the trial's sixth day, women Conrad Murray dated, had relationships with, and even his live-in girlfriend, who is also the mother of his most recent child, all took the stand. Four in all, and they had quite distinct personalities (some speaking softly and briefly, others more animated, almost flirtatious with the jury). They told their stories of meeting Dr. Murray in everywhere from bars to other "social settings", each of them being told he was Michael Jackson's personal doctor.

It doesn't sound good from a character perspective, but their significance goes far beyond the character of the King of Pop's doctor.

Despite Judge Pastor's previous admonition that Murray's lifestyle not be put on trial, the prosecution was able to introduce testimony about his personal relationships with these women because he had some degree of interaction with each one of them on the day Michael Jackson died… all before noon… while he was also taking calls from former patients (2 so far have testified), making calls to his office, and tending to his famous client, who he was admittedly dosing with various drugs to induce sleep.

A pattern is starting to emerge, and it doesn't look good for Dr. Murray.


Make no mistake, the prosecution put his character at issue on Tuesday. They hope the jury will see Dr. Murray as a player, whose mind was on his various women and not Michael Jackson. They want jurors to see Dr. Murray as a man lurking around clubs, hitting on various women at the same time with the go-to line of being Michael Jackson's doctor. They hope jurors, five of whom are female, will be repulsed by his character and start looking through a negative lens as they plow through the timeline on the day of Jackson's death.

But what the prosecution wants the jury to see may be much deeper than intimations that Dr. Murray is a player. That concept just contributes to the issue in this case that the prosecution REALLY wants the jury to see: Dr. Murray's choices in life, including his actions with women, left him spread way to thin, and ultimately led to Jackson's death. Think about this: your doctor provides you with a surgical anesthetic in order to help ease your pain before a procedure. Prior to that procedure, who is the last person you see? Your doctor, of course. Now think of this: when you wake up, who do you see? My guess is (1) the anesthesiologist, (2) a nurse, or maybe, (3) your doctor, (4) other technicians in the room. In your mind, these folks never left you alone, right? Well, in this case, the prosecution's real message to the jury is this: unlike what you expect in a hospital, Jackson received far less. He may have seen Dr. Murray's face before drifting off, but wasn't he expecting to be watched over, just as you are? Did he expect that Murray would be taking and receiving calls and texts from 4 women, patients, various people in his office and the like? I think not. Watch for this in the closing because you will see it addressed often by prosecutors: by not providing the care you or I would expect, he set up a substantial risk of great injury or death to his patient, and that reckless action caused his death.

The defense, as is expected from a strong defense team such as Dr. Murray's, made some very strong points. One witness, Sade Anding, was presumably on the phone with Dr. Murray minutes before Jackson's death, when she heard voices, then coughing (for the prosecution, that was presumably Michael Jackson gasping for air), then Murray dropped from the call. The defense got her to admit anyone could have been coughing, not necessarily Jackson. Another big win was what the jury didn't hear. They will not be permitted to hear evidence of Murray's 7 children with 6 women; who he is currently married to despite these other interactions with women; and his financial issues and lawsuits for, among other things, claims of upaid child support. Imagine how much worse it would be for him if the jury heard that.

But trials are famous for providing explosive, provocative evidence, while sometimes shadowing the really big point. It's like the old Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope. Remember when he used to waive his right glove distracting his opponent, and then hit 'em hard with the left? It's all about misdirection. Here's the sucker punch prosecutors want the jury to see: while the women in Dr. Murray's life provided all the fireworks in Tuesday’s testimony and may have had you thinking "was Dr. Murray a player, and does it even matter?", what the prosecution really hopes jurors ask is, "Did Dr. Murray abandon Michael Jackson, fail to be present and vigilant for him when he was ‘under’, and did this ultimately cause his death?"

Talk about a one-two punch. But what will the jury think? Only time will tell.

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