Conrad Murray's trial/ Day 10-27-2011

Character witnesses speak on Murray's behalf
By Alan Duke, CNN
October 26, 2011 -- Updated 2051 GMT (0451 HKT)


Los Angeles (CNN) -- Tears flowed from Dr. Conrad Murray's eyes Wednesday as he listened to an elderly patient tell jurors that Murray had opened a clinic in the Acres Homes community of Houston in honor of his father, who had practiced there.
After 17 days of hearing about how pop star Michael Jackson died under Murray's care, jurors began hearing Wednesday from people who say the doctor saved lives.

Ruby Mosley was one of five character witnesses called by Murray's defense lawyers Wednesday morning as his involuntary manslaughter trial nears an end.
"If this man had been greedy, he never would have come to an area, a community of Acres Homes, 75% of them poor, on welfare and Social Security," Mosley said.

Murray continued to dab tears from his eyes even after Mosley left the stand.
"He's the best doctor I've ever been to," said Gerry Causey, a 68-year-old former patient of the man accused of causing Jackson's death."And I just don't think he did what he's being accused of," Causey added, under cross-examination by the prosecution.

Much of the prosecution's case has been spent trying to demonstrate that Murray gave reckless and incompetent medical treatment as Jackson's personal doctor in the last months of his life.
Causey met Murray 11 years ago when he was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital with a heart attack, but they became friends since then, he testified.
"It's because of Dr. Murray, the way he cares for you, the way he makes you feel," Causey said.
Prosecutors contend that Murray abandoned his patients in Las Vegas and Houston for the $150,000 a month Jackson had promised him.
"There's no way, he's not greedy," Causey said. "He doesn't charge me my deductable, never has."
Las Vegas heart patient Andrew Guest, who followed Causey on the witness stand Wednesday, said Murray "makes sure you're ok during the procedure."
"That man sitting there is the best doctor I've ever seen," Guest testified.
Murray treated Dennis Hix by putting 14 stints into arteries around his heart 11 years ago, Hix testified.

"I'm 66, I've gone to a lot of doctors, a lot of doctors and I've never had one that gave me the care that he did," Hix said.
Murray never charged Hix beyond what his insurance would pay, he said. "I had a type of insurance that don't hardly pay for nothing," he said. "So he did it for me free."
Two medical experts for the defense, including anesthesiologist Dr. Paul White, are expected to follow Thursday and possibly Friday. This would set the stage for closing arguments and jury deliberations early next week, although it's possible that could come Friday.

Patient: Murray very 'proactive' Murray was in 'severe distress' Murray was in 'severe distress' Jackson wanted to do '10 more shows than Prince' Jackson's nurse cries on stand.
Jackson's sisters Janet and La Toya, as well as his brother Randy, were in court for Wednesday's testimony.
The promoter of Jackson's ill-fated "This Is It" tour testified Tuesday that Jackson's fear that producers would "pull the plug" on the shows if the singer missed more rehearsals was unfounded.
"No one on our end was ever contemplating pulling the plug," said Randy Phillips, the head of AEG Live.

Murray's lawyers contend Jackson self-administered the overdose of drugs that killed him in a "desperate desire to get to sleep," because he feared without rest he would miss his next rehearsal and trigger the cancellation of his comeback concerts.
If the tour was canceled, Jackson would have to pay for all of the production and rehearsal costs, Phillips said, although the judge would not let him tell jurors how much that might have been. Defense lawyer Ed Chernoff estimated the cost to be about $40 million, leaving him "a very, very poor man," but it was not while the jury was present.

Concert director Kenny Ortega sent Phillips an e-mail five days before Jackson's death, referring to Jackson's fear the company would cancel the tour. The e-mail triggered a meeting with Jackson and Murray to address Ortega's concerns about Jackson's "lack of focus" and missed rehearsals, with the debut of his London shows just three weeks away.
He and Ortega were satisfied when Jackson told them "You build the house and I will put on the door and paint it," suggesting he would be ready, Phillips testified.

Also at the meeting, Phillips told Murray that he wanted to make sure Murray knew about Jackson's visits to another doctor, dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein. "Because he's his principal physician, I thought he should know," he said.
Phillips said he was concerned because Jackson "seemed a little distracted and not focused" in a meeting after a visit to Klein's Beverly Hills clinic.
The defense contends Jackson became addicted to the painkiller Demerol in his frequent visits to Klein in the three months before his death. His withdrawal from the Demerol, which Murray was unaware of, would explain why Jackson could not sleep the day he died, the defense contends.
Earlier Tuesday, a nurse who tried to treat Jackson's insomnia with natural remedies testified that Jackson told her that doctors assured him using the surgical anesthetic propofol at home to induce sleep was safe as long as he was monitored.

Jackson died two months after that conversation with nurse Cherilyn Lee, from what the coroner ruled was an overdose of propofol, combined with sedatives.
Prosecutors contend Murray's use of propofol to treat Jackson's insomnia in his home was reckless, in part because he did not have proper equipment to monitor his patient and he abandoned him to make phone calls.
Lee's testimony was briefly delayed as she was overcome with emotion. "I'm feeling really, really dizzy," Lee said. "This is just very sensitive to me."
Lee used IV drips loaded with vitamins, "sophisticated" vitamin smoothies and bedtime teas to treat Jackson's insomnia, but Jackson became frustrated when her natural remedies failed to make him sleep, she said.

"He said 'I'm telling you the only thing that's going to help me sleep right away is the Diprivan and can you find someone to help me to sleep?'" Lee said. Diprivan is a brand name for propofol.
After some quick research, the nurse warned Jackson that it was dangerous to use propofol at home, Lee testified.
Jackson was not deterred, she said, even after she asked him "but what if you don't wake up?"

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren asked her, "And he responded, 'I will be OK, I only need someone to monitor me with the equipment while I sleep'?"
"Yes, that's exactly what he said," Lee said.
Murray had already agreed to serve as Jackson's private physician and had ordered his first supplies of propofol for Jackson more than a week before Jackson asked Lee for help getting the drug.

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WEDNESDAY, OCT 26, 2011 1:13 PM HORA ESTÁNDAR ROMANCE
Defense To Highlight Positives Of Jackson Doctor
BY ANTHONY MCCARTNEY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOPICS:FROM THE WIRES

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After weeks of hearing prosecutors and witnesses cast the physician charged in Michael Jackson’s death as a bad doctor, defense attorneys will shift the case to some of Dr. Conrad Murray’s positive traits as the case nears its close.

Murray’s defense team plans to call up to five character witnesses Wednesday who will likely speak about the Houston-based cardiologist’s care and life-saving abilities. The attorneys did not name the witnesses, but they are expected to be Murray’s patients.

The flurry of character witnesses come as defense attorneys wind down their case. They told a judge Tuesday that after the character witnesses, they will only call two experts to try to counter prosecution experts who said Murray acted recklessly by giving Jackson the anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid.

Defense attorneys could rest their case Thursday. They have already called nine witnesses, including a doctor and nurse practitioner who treated Jackson but refused his requests to help him obtain either an intravenous sleep aid or propofol.

Murray, 58, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He faces up to four years behind bars and the loss of his medical license if convicted.


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Conrad Murray trial: AEG CEO Randy Phillips talks Michael Jackson, tour planning

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Katrina K Wheeler, Jackson Family Examiner
October 26, 2011

The Conrad Murray trial is in its fifth week, and the prosecution has rested its case at this point. The defense has started to present its case, and yesterday, the defense called the CEO of AEG, Randy Phillips to the witness stand to testify in the trial. There is a huge amount of interest in the trial, since Michael Jackson's fans around the world are looking for answers as is the family of the star, and those closest to him.

Randy Phillips was questioned on the tour that they were working preparing to launch with Michael Jackson. He discussed the ticket sales, and much more. He said that it was apparent to him that Michael Jackson was motivated, and receptive to doing the tour that they had discussions about (This Is It tour). Defense attorney Ed Chernoff asked Phillips if the early meetings were to discuss the financial aspects of the tour with Michael Jackson, and Randy Phillips testified that money was not discussed with Michael Jackson in the meetings that he had with him, the meetings were to discuss creative ideas, and that negotiating the finances were done separately.


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Defense witness describes a confident Michael Jackson
Dr. Conrad Murray's lawyers had hoped Randy Phillips would bolster their claim that the star was filled with anxiety. Instead, he detailed plans for the concert series.


By Harriet Ryan and Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times
October 26, 2011

In his three decades in the music industry, Randy Phillips founded a successful record label, worked with stars from Prince to Celine Dion and propelled his concert promoting company, AEG Live, to annual revenues of more than $1 billion.

But he is likely to be remembered best as Michael Jackson's last boss, and it was that role that took Phillips to the witness stand Tuesday at the trial of the pop icon's doctor.

For two hours, Phillips walked jurors through "This Is It," Jackson's planned comeback concert series, from its genesis in a Bel-Air hotel suite to a final rehearsal at Staples Center that left a normally cynical music executive with goose bumps and his star performer with a great confidence.

"He put his hands on my shoulders as we were walking out and he said to me, 'You got me here, now I'm ready. I can take it from here.' And that's the last I saw him," Phillips recalled in a packed courtroom that included Jackson's sister Janet.

FULL COVERAGE: The trial of Dr. Conrad Murray

Phillips was called to the stand by lawyers for Dr. Conrad Murray, who had hoped his account would bolster their claim that an anxiety-ridden Jackson gave himself a lethal dose of propofol in a desperate attempt to sleep before critical rehearsals.

But Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor prohibited many of the areas the defense planned to probe, and the answers Phillips gave often were at odds with their portrait of Jackson as fearful and the production as deeply troubled.

"No one on our end was ever contemplating pulling the plug," insisted Phillips, chief executive of AEG Live.

The "This Is It" shows had the potential to make Jackson, in debt $400 million by some estimates, a very rich man, but their failure would have sunk the singer to new levels of insolvency.

AEG was paying for everything in his life — from his rented Holmby Hills mansion to the personal chef who prepared him organic juices — as well as the huge expense of mounting a high-tech show that included multiple sets, Jackson catapulting over the crowd and 3-D elements. If he failed to perform, Jackson would have to reimburse AEG more than $30 million, according to the defense.

The judge ruled, however, that the 42-page contract would distract and confuse jurors and barred the defense from questioning Phillips, who signed the document along with Jackson, about its details. But after the executive repeatedly referred to the contractual obligations on both sides, defense attorney Ed Chernoff was permitted to ask if Jackson "was ultimately responsible" for the production costs.

Yes, Phillips replied.

Jackson's mother, Katherine, is suing AEG for wrongful death, and a lawyer for AEG accompanied Phillips to court and sat in the spectator's gallery as he testified.

Phillips said "This Is It" grew out of a 2008 phone call from Philip Anschutz, the billionaire head of AEG Live's parent company. Anschutz asked him to meet with Century City financier Tom Barrack, whose company had recently purchased a note on Jackson's Neverland ranch.

Jackson said achieving stability for his family was the motivating factor for performing again, Phillips testified.

"The primary reason was that he wanted to finally settle down and get a really, really good home for the kids and his family so they weren't, in his words, living like vagabonds," Phillips said.

The children were present in the Hotel Bel-Air suite for the Oct. 2008 meeting — he recalled that they wore Halloween costumes — and Phillips said the discussion about securing them a home "got emotional" and both men teared up.

The defense has suggested that Jackson was forced by Phillips and AEG into more shows than the 10 originally scheduled, but the executive denied that. He said that 31 shows were always planned and that Jackson agreed to 19 additional concerts "in 20 minutes."

His only conditions were that Phillips get the Guinness Book of World Records to document his 50-show feat and rent him a sprawling country home outside London for his children.

"He was very specific. He wanted 16-plus acres, running streams, horses," Phillips said. "He wanted to give them a pastoral country vibe."

Jackson was also adamant about bringing Murray to London.

Phillips testified that Murray assured him In June 2009 that the singer was in perfect health.

Two weeks later, things had taken a different turn. The concert director, choreographer Kenny Ortega, had grown frustrated with Jackson's repeated absence from rehearsals and wondered in an e-mail to Phillips if it might be time they "pulled the plug."

At a subsequent meeting five days before Jackson's death, Murray "guaranteed us that Michael would get into it, would connect," Phillips recalled.

Phillips denied that the shows were ever in doubt but acknowledged that Jackson's problems "focusing" might have delayed the concerts.

"At some point it could be postponed to the point that production would not be possible?" Chernoff asked.

"I can't speculate on that," Phillips replied.

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Conrad Murray Defense Team Highlights His Positive Traits as a Doctor

The doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death cried Wednesday while hearing five witnesses tell jurors he was thorough and caring and not motivated by money.
Dr. Conrad Murray's eyes filled with tears as one of the witnesses, Ruby Mosley, recalled the physician founding a clinic in a poor community in Houston in honor of his father.
Mosley said Murray never would have founded the clinic if he had been greedy, as prosecutors have previously suggested.

"When you went to the doctor, in his office, you did not see a sign when you walked in that (said), `Pay at the time that services rendered,"' Mosley said. "You did not see a sign that said present ID or your insurance card ... You saw the doctor first."
Murray continued to wipe his eyes for several moments after Mosley left the witness stand. She was the last of five character witnesses that Murray's attorneys called during the doctor's involuntary manslaughter trial. He has pleaded not guilty.
The trial recessed for the day after Mosley's testimony and was expected to resume Thursday with Murray's final witnesses -- a pair of medical experts.
Authorities contend Murray gave Jackson a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol in the singer's bedroom on June 25, 2009. Defense attorneys claim the singer gave himself the fatal dose.
Gerry Causey, of Cedar City, Utah, said Murray treated him for a heart attack 11 years ago, and the cardiologist remains his best friend.
Causey said he was not put to sleep at his request while Murray implanted a stent after fully explaining the procedure to him.
"I know his love, his compassion, his feelings for his patients," Causey said. "He's the best doctor I've ever been to."
Murray, 58, last treated Causey in 2008. Causey said the doctor didn't charge him his deductible for office visits.
"I just don't think he did what he's been accused of," Causey said.
Another witness, Dennis Hix of Banning, Calif., said Murray performed a stent procedure for him for free.
Murray agreed to become Jackson's personal physician for $150,000 a month but was never paid because the singer died before the contract was signed.
Prosecutors have contended that Murray was heavily in debt and initially sought $5 million to treat Jackson as he prepared for a series of lucrative comeback concerts.
Another character witness, Andrew Guest, echoed Causey's comments about Murray's skill and care.
"He makes sure you're OK, during the procedure, after the procedure," said Guest, a locksmith at a casino in Las Vegas. "I'm alive today because of that man."
The flurry of witnesses came as defense attorneys wind down their case, which could conclude Thursday. They previously told a judge that after the character witnesses, they will call the two experts to counter prosecution experts who said Murray acted recklessly by giving Jackson propofol as a sleep aid.
The lawyers already called a doctor and nurse practitioner who treated Jackson but refused his requests to help him obtain either an intravenous sleep aid or propofol.
Murray's attorneys contend Jackson was desperate for sleep so he could rehearse for his comeback shows and gave himself the fatal dose of propofol when his doctor left the room.
They attempted to argue that Jackson would have been indebted to concert promoter AEG Live for nearly $40 million if his shows were canceled, but a judge blocked any mention of the figure to the jury.


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Michael Jackson wanted kids to settle in country estate to 'stop living like vagabonds'
London, Oct 26 : Michael Jackson shed tears of joy over the London concerts while saying that he wanted to make a triumphant record-breaking comeback in England so that he and his children could settle down in a country estate and ‘stop living like vagabonds,’ a court has heard.

The King of Pop also demanded a country estate with a running stream and horses outside London where he could escape the pressures of the planned O2 Arena concerts.

Randy Phillips, president of AEG Live, the company promoting the concerts, said one of the main reasons Jackson agreed to the tour was because he was tired of moving around all the time.

“The primary reason was that he wanted to finally settle down and get a really, really good home for the kids so they weren’t living like vagabonds. He was tired of living like that,” the Daily Mail quoted Phillips as telling the court.

The boss of AEG Live - which owns the O2 - said demand for tickets was so huge that Jackson agreed to increase the number of shows to 50.

He was initially going to do 31 shows - ten more than Prince performed at the same venue - but then put a maximum of 50 because “he didn’t want to live in London and have to get a new passport,” revealed Phillips.

He said the singer would only agree to the extra concerts if he could live in a country estate with more than 16 acres, a running stream and horses.

“He didn’t want to be trapped in a hotel suite, no matter how beautiful. He wanted to give the children a pastoral, country living vibe,” added the promoter.


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Conrad Murray trial: Patient Gerry Causey shakes Murray's hand after testimony

Continue reading on Examiner.com Conrad Murray trial: Patient Gerry Causey shakes Murray's hand after testimony - National Jackson family | Examiner.com [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


The Conrad Murray trial is currently in its fifth week, and yesterday, the defense called a few of Murray's patients that he has treated over the years to the witness stand. One patient is making headlines today. Gerry Causey took to the stand to discuss the treatment that he has received over the years by Conrad Murray.

As USA Today reports, Gerry Causey said while on the witness stand of Murray: "The way he cares for you, the way he makes you feel and the love he has for you." He also stated that Murray was "the best doctor" he "ever had." Causey's appearance in court is making headlines today because once he stepped down from the witness stand, he went over to Conrad Murray and shook his hand. During the cross-examination, David Walgren asked Causey: "I want you to assume that Conrad Murray acted with gross negligence and caused the death of Michael Jackson. You would still be here, giving that testimony, for your best friend?" Gerry Causey then stated: "I would still be here."

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