Conrad Murray's trial/ Day 10-24-2011

October 23, 2011 2:21 PM
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After an emotional start, science takes over trial



(AP) LOS ANGELES — While the defense was on the verge of its counter attack in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, the prosecution dramatically shifted the focus from personalities to science — its most powerful weapon in the courtroom battle..

Its star witness, a scientist with a reassuring witness box manner, had jurors on their feet straining for a better view of his show-and-tell demonstration. It was the closest they would come to seeing a purported re-enactment of how the King of Pop died.

Dr. Conrad Murray, charged with causing Jackson's death, watched intently as Dr. Steven Shafer closed the case against him holding a bottle of propofol, an IV bag and a tube carrying the milky white liquid downward.

That was how it happened on June 25, 2009, said Shafer. He was certain.

On Monday, a defense attorney will try to shake his testimony and later a fellow scientist billed as "the father of propofol," will offer another theory. Whether Dr. Paul White can absolve Murray of blame for the singer's death remains to be seen. But the defense is just beginning.

"He will have to stand firm on the fact that reasonable minds can differ," said Marcellus McRae, a former federal prosecutor and trial attorney who has been following the case closely. "He will have to change the landscape here and show some reasonable doubt. The question is will this be enough."

Murray, a Houston based cardiologist, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

McRae said calling Shafer as the final prosecution witness was a master stroke.

"Brick by evidentiary brick, Shafer has built a wall of scientific reasons for the jury to conclude that Dr. Murray was criminally negligent," he said. "It allows the prosecution to tell the jury that their case is built on science rather than shifting theories."

In addition to making the science understandable, Shafer offered some colloquial phrases that may resonate with jurors including the words "crazy" and "clueless."

He called Murray's unorthodox use of propofol as entering "a pharmacological never-never land "and said the doctor was "clueless" when it came to helping his dying patient. And he denounced a defense theory that Jackson could have awoken from sedation and given himself the drugs that killed him during a few minutes that he was left alone by Murray.

"People don't just wake up from anesthesia hell-bent to pick up a syringe and pump it into the IV," Shafer said, reminding the jury that the procedure was complicated. "It's a crazy scenario."

Shafer stood in the well of the courtroom with an IV pole, a bag of saline solution and a bottle of propofol, showing how the drug could have run quickly into Jackson's veins while his doctor was out of the bedroom.

He drew a scene in which Murray, lacking the proper equipment to measure doses, left Jackson on an IV drip of the powerful anesthetic flowing quickly under the pull of gravity into the sleeping singer. It was the explanation, he said, of how Jackson died of a propofol overdose with no one present to see that he had stopped breathing.

"This fits all of the data in this case and I am not aware of a single piece of data that is inconsistent with this explanation," Shafer said.

In early cross-examination, defense attorney Ed Chernoff asked Shafer if that wasn't "a bold statement."

"It's an honest statement," he replied.

Shafer's mathematical calculations projected on a large screen concluded that Murray had not given his patient the minimal 25 milligrams he claimed, but had started a vastly larger infusion of a 100 milliliter bottle, containing 1,000 milligrams of the drug.

No, Shafer said, Jackson had not given himself an additional infusion of propofol.

"He can't give himself an injection if he's asleep," he said.

Shafer was the prosecution's closer. An anesthesiology professor and researcher at Columbia University Medical School, he wrote the package insert instructing doctors how to use propofol.

He listed 17 "egregious" violations of the standard of care by Murray, chief among them leaving his anesthetized patient alone and failing to call 9-1-1 when he found Jackson not breathing. .

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren concluded a key day of Shafer's examination by asking: "Would it be your opinion that Conrad Murray is directly responsible for the death of Michael Jackson for his egregious violations and abandonment of Michael Jackson?"

Shafer replied, "Absolutely."

Just giving Jackson the anesthetic as a sleep aid in a home setting was unconscionable, Shafer testified. It is intended for surgery in hospitals where resuscitation equipment is available.

"We are in pharmacological never-never land here, something that was done to Michael Jackson and no one else in history to my knowledge," he told jurors.

Gray haired and amiable, Shafer entranced jurors with his easy manner, speaking directly to them as he made molecules understandable and led them through complicated graphs projected on a courtroom screen. When Chernoff accused him of trying to send a message to jurors, he responded calmly, "I'm trying to make it easy for the jury. These are complex graphs and I'm trying to explain to the jury a very complex pharmacology. There is no other agenda as you're suggesting."

McRae gave Walgren and co-prosecutor Deborah Brazil high marks.

"Good trial lawyers know that you have to persuade on the law, persuade on a factual level and then persuade on a moral and common sense level," he said. "Even though you're not going to hear an instruction about morality, the jury has to feel they're making the right decision on a gut level."

"I think the prosecutors here have done a very effective job of hitting the human element, the moral element and now the factual element." he said.

A parade of 32 witnesses had testified before Shafer took the stand and stole the show. They included Jackson's household personnel, security guards, paramedics and a business associate. Jurors heard about the legendary singer's final day on earth -- singing and dancing at a rehearsal for his comeback concert, reveling in the adulation of fans who showered him with gifts. And then a night of horror, chasing the most elusive treasure he craved -- sleep.

Most dramatic were two recordings -- one of the heavily drugged singer dreaming aloud to his doctor about future triumphs and then the doctor himself being interviewed by police two days after the death that shook the world of pop culture.

All of it told a compelling story structured by prosecutors Walgren and Brazil to prove that Murray, who had been hired by Jackson for $150,000 a month as his personal physician, was responsible for his famous patient's death.

With the trial winding down, they brought on the experts, a coroner and two doctors who evaluated Murray's conduct for the California Medical Board.

Dr. Nathan Kamangar, described Murray's conduct as "unethical, disturbing and beyond comprehension."

Dr. Alon Steinberg enumerated deviations from the standard of care, and said, "If all of these deviations didn't happen, Michael Jackson might have been alive."


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Defense in Jackson case opens with doctor, police
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent – 1 day ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Defense attorneys for the doctor accused of killing Michael Jackson began their case Monday, targeting Jackson as the architect of his own demise by seeking to cure his insomnia with an intravenous drug, even when he was warned it was dangerous.
With the testimony of a doctor and a nurse practitioner, the lawyers showed that Jackson had been on his quest for at least 15 years, and in the months before he died he began asking for intravenous medication, specifically an anesthetic.

Jackson would eventually get the drug propofol from Dr. Conrad Murray, now on trial for involuntary manslaughter in the death of the superstar.
Taking over in the packed courtroom after prosecutors rested their four-week case, defense lawyers showed their hand at last, calling witnesses who indicated it was Jackson who demanded the drug that eventually killed him.
Dr. Allan Metzger, who was Jackson's friend and confidant over two decades, said he refused the singer's request for an intravenous anesthetic two months before his death and told the star it would be dangerous if administered in his home.

Prosecutors were quick to exploit the testimony to show that other medical professionals rejected any suggestion by the singer that he receive anesthetics as a sleep aid.
"You explained to him that it was dangerous, life-threatening and should not be done outside a hospital, correct?" prosecutor David Walgren asked on cross-examination.

"That's correct," Metzger replied.
Metzger added that there was no amount of money that would have prompted him to give Jackson the anesthetic propofol,
The next witness, holistic nurse practitioner Cherilyn Lee, said she treated Jackson with vitamin infusions and he felt so much better that he invited her to go with him to London for his concert tour. Then he reported he couldn't sleep and asked her to come to his home and watch him sleep, she testified.
She said she thought his problem was that he had been drinking highly caffeinated beverages for energy. Once he withdrew from them, she was confident his problem would abate. But it did not.
She said she urged him to undergo a sleep study but he said he didn't have time.

In mid-April 2009, shortly before he began treatment with Murray, Jackson asked Lee to watch him sleep, which she did. She said he slept for five hours but was upset when he awoke.
"He said, 'You see, I can't stay asleep,'" she said.
Lee, who has spoken publicly about Jackson's demand that she get him propofol, was expected to tell jurors about that exchange when she returns to the witness stand Tuesday.

Metzger also said he had known for at least 15 years that Jackson had trouble sleeping. When he made a house call to the singer's home in April 2009, Metzger said the singer asked him about intravenous sleep medications and anesthetics. He mentioned a specific drug that he wanted, Metzger said.
"I think he used the word juice," Metzger said. The physician prescribed two oral medications, although he said the singer told him that he did not believe any oral medication would work.

Metzger added that there was no amount of money that would have prompted him to give Jackson the anesthetic propofol, which he said the singer didn't mention by name during their visit.
Murray has pleaded not guilty. Authorities contend Murray gave Jackson a lethal dose of propofol as a sleep aid.
Metzger was one of several hostile witnesses that defense attorneys plan to call during their case, which began with brief testimony from a records custodian for the police emergency dispatcher, a police surveillance specialist and two detectives who investigated Murray.

Defense lawyers have said they will have 15 witnesses but have not publicly revealed whether they will call Murray to testify.
Jurors have heard from Murray through a more than two-hour interview with police, and it seems unlikely his attorneys would subject their client to what would be blistering questioning from prosecutors.
Prosecutors rested their case earlier in the day after testimony from 33 witnesses.

The defense then began its effort to counter damaging testimony that cast Murray as an opportunistic doctor who broke legal, ethical and professional guidelines to satisfy a patient who was paying him $150,000 a month.


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October 24, 2011
Defense plays nice with Dr. Shafer

After Friday's combative testimony between defense attorney Ed Chernoff and state's witness Dr. Steven Shafer, we expected more fireworks in the courtroom. But it seems Chernoff left the boxing gloves at home Monday and stuck mainly to Dr. Shafer's drug calculations.

Earlier in his testimony, the anesthesiologist eliminated all of the scenarios where Michael Jackson could have died by either ingesting or self-injecting himself with propofol.

Dr. Shafer concluded that, based on his calculations and simulations, Jackson could have only died while receiving a constant flow of the anesthetic through an IV drip.

Chernoff focused his questions for Dr. Shafer on what seemed to be arbitrary numbers that Dr. Shafer chose for his calculations. Dr. Shafer even admitted he pulled one number for a simulation out of thin air, but the number in question had no significance in his overall conclusions regarding Jackson's death.

Chernoff also dug into Dr. Shafer's knowledge of addiction and drug interaction. Dr. Shafer conceded that he has no special expertise in the field of addiction.

"I take care of patients who are addicts on a very regular basis," said Dr. Shafer. "As a trained physician, I'm familiar with forms of addiction. But I don't consider myself an addiction specialist by any means."

Complete courtroom coverage of the Conrad Murray trial airs live on HLN from gavel to gavel. It’s also on In Session on truTV from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET every weekday.

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Oct 24, 2011 2:21pm
Defense Strategy for Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray



Attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray will present 16 witnesses and a three-pronged defense of Michael Jackson’s personal doctor this week as they begin their defense today in Murray’s manslaughter trial.

Jackson died two years ago from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol. Murray has admitted to giving the singer the anesthesia June 25, 2009, and said the singer begged for his “milk,” the nickname he’d given for the creamy drug. The doctor could face four years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
The defense is expected to start its own case today with two police detective witnesses and the promoter of Jackson’s This Is It tour, Randy Phillips. They are expected to call 16 witnesses in all this week, including an expert in anesthesia, Dr. Paul White, their star witness.

White, however, has already been heard from during the trial, when he was chastised by Judge Michael Pastor for talking to reporters about the trial.
E! online reported that Murray could be heard whispering loudly to the possible witness, Dr. Paul White, “Can you believe that?” in response to the testimony of Dr. Steven Shafer, a witness for the prosecution. In response, White allegedly turned to journalists and said, “What a scumbag.”
It was unclear whether White was referring to Shafer or prosecutor David Walgren.

Pastor scolded White for his remark and set a Nov. 16 hearing date to determine whether White should be held in contempt of court.
In addition to White’s testimony about anesthesia, attorneys say they have to prove three things during their testimony: that propofol can be used safely as a sleep aid, that Murray did not have to immediately call 911 because he was busy tending to Jackson, and that Jackson was such an experienced drug user, he could have administered the propofol by himself.

For the latter point, lawyers will have to disprove prosecution witness testimony and convince jurors that the groggy Michael Jackson could have grabbed and swallowed a fatal dose of sedatives, or released the clamp on the propofol IV to self-administer a fatal dose of propofol.

They will also have to prove that Murray’s time was better spent trying to help Jackson in the moments after the doctor discovered him unconscious rather than calling 911 and waiting for emergency responders.
Testimony for the defense is expected to last all week.


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October 24, 2011
Doc: I warned MJ about IV sleep meds
Posted: 07:09 PM ET


Dr. Allan Metzger testified that Michael Jackson asked him for IV sleep medication a little more than a month before he died. Dr. Metzger said he told the King of Pop that any IV sleep medication would be dangerous.

Jackson received treatment from Dr. Metzger for close to 20 years for multiple issues including nutrition, sleep and pain.

Jackson met with Dr. Metzger on April 18, 2009 and asked for IV sleep meds, which he called "juice." The doctor didn’t know what he meant at first.

"I don't recall him naming medicines... but I do remember him saying many medicines did not work... I had personally tried him on Tylenol PM, which did not work," said Dr. Metzger. "We had tried Zanax... and on that visit, I gave him Klonopin or trazodone, to be used not together."

During cross examination, prosecutor David Walgren asked if Dr. Metzger had ever given Jackson propofol.

Walgren said, "Any amount of money that would have convinced you to give him propofol in his house?"

"Absolutely not," replied Dr. Metzger.

Complete courtroom coverage of the Conrad Murray trial airs live on HLN from gavel to gavel. It’s also on In Session on truTV from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET every weekday.


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Doctor describes a fearful Jackson, desperate for sleep

Defense witness in Dr. Conrad Murray's trial testifies that the pop singer was worried about his concert tour and asked for intravenous drugs, saying oral medications didn't work.




By Victoria Kim and Harriet Ryan, Los Angeles Times
October 24, 2011, 8:37 p.m.
Michael Jackson's friend and former physician testified Monday that the singer was searching for drugs to help him sleep two months before his death, "fearful" about his upcoming comeback tours in London.

The testimony of Dr. Allan Metzger in the first day of Dr. Conrad Murray's defense offered the first glimpse of a portrayal of Jackson that Murray's attorneys had hinted at all along — a pop star under mounting pressure who was seeking medication to help him cope.

Attorneys for Murray in the doctor's involuntary manslaughter trial have suggested that Jackson died by his own hand when he awoke from sedation and injected himself with the surgical anesthetic propofol and swallowed a second drug. They contend that Jackson was desperate enough to take drastic actions that ended his own life.

Prosecutors say that Murray caused the death of his famed charge by recklessly administering a fatal quantity of propofol, then leaving him unattended.

Metzger, who said he became a confidant and friend after treating the singer for more than 15 years, said Jackson asked for intravenous drugs as he spoke of his anxiety about performing at the sold-out, 50-show concert series.

"His fear was that this was a big obligation," Metzger, a Beverly Hills internist, testified. "He realized it was a huge ordeal to do that."

Metzger said Jackson was also excited and believed he was "up to the task," but was deeply concerned about his health and especially his inability to sleep. In the April 18, 2009, meeting at his home, Jackson asked about getting intravenous sleep medication, saying drugs taken orally didn't work, the doctor recalled.

Metzger said Jackson did not ask about a specific drug by name, but mentioned he wanted "some form of an anesthetic."

"I think he used the word 'juice,' " referring to intravenous drugs, Metzger said. Jackson did not mention propofol, the surgical anesthetic that killed him, the doctor testified.

Under cross-examination by a prosecutor, Metzger said he advised Jackson against using such drugs for insomnia.

"When Michael Jackson inquired about intravenous sleep medication, you explained to him that was dangerous, life-threatening and should not be done outside of a hospital, is that correct?" Deputy Dist. Atty. David Walgren asked.

"That's correct," he replied.

Asked by Walgren if there was "any amount of money" that would have convinced him to give Jackson propofol at his home, Metzger said: "Definitely not."

The physician was the fifth witness to be called by Murray's defense after prosecutors wrapped up their four-week case against the doctor Monday morning. The government's final witness, anesthesiologist Dr. Steven Shafer, said his calculations, based on the drug levels found at the autopsy, ruled out a scenario in which Jackson injected himself.

Defense attorney Ed Chernoff remarked in his cross-examination that the hypothetical scenarios Shafer proposed and ruled out one by one were selected "out of thin air."

Shafer, who used models based on research data to chart how different doses and methods of administering propofol would have affected Jackson, noted that he had no choice but to speculate about what happened in the hours leading up to Jackson's death because Murray kept no records — something he said in earlier testimony was an egregious violation of standard of care.

Murray's attorneys had initially sought to call a string of witnesses to portray Jackson as a drug addict "on the hunt" for the surgical anesthetic that killed him, but most were barred by the judge overseeing the trial.

A second medical professional also took the stand Monday and recalled how Jackson came to her looking for a way to be able to sleep through the night. Nurse practitioner Cherilyn Lee, who described herself as a holistic practitioner, said she recommended a sleep study and an array of tests to determine why Jackson was having trouble sleeping.

"He said he didn't have time for all that," Lee recalled.


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Oct 24 2011 8:31 PM EDT 4,274
Michael Jackson Surveillance Tape Called Into Question
Dr. Conrad Murray's lawyers question why LAPD surveillance expert only submitted a portion of tape into evidence.


Day 16 in the involuntary manslaughter trial against Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray marked the end of the prosecution's case and the first day the defense had an opportunity to call witnesses to the stand.

Testimony kicked off with a cross-examination of propofol expert Steven Shafer, during which Murray's attorney Ed Chernoff challenged Shafer's theory that there is no way Jackson could have killed himself with self-administered doses of Lorazepam and propofol. Chernoff and his team then moved through several witnesses Monday (October 24).

The Witnesses
» Dr. Steven Shafer - propofol expert
» Alex Supall - LAPD surveillance specialist
» Donna Norris - Beverly Hills Police Department communications director
» Dan Myers - LAPD detective
» Orlando Martinez - LAPD detective
» Cherilyn Lee - nurse practitioner

Key Testimony
» Shafer reiterated his testimony from Thursday in that he does not believe it is possible Jackson killed himself and that it is difficult to determine the specific effect propofol had on Jackson because of the amount of the drug that had been previously administered to the singer in the two months before his death.

» Donna Norris took the stand briefly to discuss details of the 911 call Murray placed the day of Jackson's death: the time the call came in, the location from which the call was placed and from what number the call was received.

» Alex Supall, who visited Jackson's home the evening after his death, discussed the details of the security and surveillance systems set up at Jackson's residence. Supall was pressed by the defense for the reasons why he only submitted a few minutes of footage to the investigation (the last time Jackson entered his home) versus the entire day. Supall told the court he copied Jackson's arrival in order to establish a timeline for his return home.

» LAPD detectives Myers and Martinez were brought to the stand to question the testimony of Jackson's bodyguard, Alberto Alvarez. Myers told the court that contrary to what Alvarez claimed Murray told him to do, the bodyguard did not tell the detectives about putting propofol bottles or a saline bag away before the EMTs' arrived. Martinez agreed with Myers that Alvarez never mentioned being instructed to hide the materials, which led Murray's defense team to insinuate that Alvarez might have been influenced by reading a press release from the county coroner a few days after his initial interview with the police.

» Lee took the stand to provide the court with details about her treatment and care of Jackson, including a description of what fluids she administered Jackson through his IV.

Murray has pleaded not guilty to the charge of involuntary manslaughter. He faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical license.

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Cherilyn Lee: Michael Jackson Begged For Anesthetic




LOS ANGELES -- Jurors hearing the case against the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death are getting another look at the singer's life as defense attorneys try to portray him as desperate for sleep and eager to obtain the powerful anesthetic that authorities say killed him.

The panel will hear Tuesday from Cherilyn Lee, a nurse practitioner who has said Jackson repeatedly asked her for propofol to help him sleep, but she refused. Lee began her testimony Monday, the sixth witness that Dr. Conrad Murray's attorneys called to try to shift the blame for Jackson's death to the singer himself.

Murray's team plans Tuesday to call other witnesses who they think may support that theory, including Randy Phillips, the president and CEO of concert promoter AEG Live, and Jackson's makeup artist and hairstylist, Karen Faye. They will also call several expert witnesses who will try to rebut the testimony of prosecution experts who said Murray was reckless and at fault in Jackson's unexpected death on June 25, 2009.
Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

The defense's case now appears to hinge on their claim that Jackson gave himself a fatal dose of propofol. In a court filing Monday, Murray's attorneys argued that they should be allowed to show jurors the agreement between Jackson and AEG Live to show that Jackson had much to lose if he couldn't perform 50 comeback concerts planned for London's O2 arena.

AEG would have been allowed to recoup its investment in the shows and advances paid to Jackson if he couldn't perform, the filing states.

Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor will consider whether to allow the agreement and testimony about it by Phillips, although he has previously excluded any evidence of Jackson's financial hardships.

"This evidence directly supports the defense theory of the case – that Mr. Jackson self-administered propofol due to the enormous pressure and stress placed on him pursuant to the agreement," the defense filing states. "Mr. Jackson's mental state on June 25, 2009 is highly relevant to the defense in this case."

Murray's attorneys expect Faye will testify that Jackson was distraught about completing the comeback shows.


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