Dr. Conrad Murray's Defense Team Wins Delay

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 29, 2011
All Rights Reserved.                                         

            Granted a continuance May 3 on his involuntary manslaughter trial for the June 25, 2009 death of pop singer Michael Jackson, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor gave Murray’s defense team four more months.   Murray’s attorneys said they needed more time to interview “microbiology, pharmacokinetics and veterinary medicine” experts to manage prosecutors claims the Murray—and Murray alone—overdosed the 50-year-old entertainer the night after he finished a successful dress rehearsal at Staples Center for his year-long U.K.-based tour.  Murray’s defense team had floated many trial balloons hoping to get a read on which theory or scenario won Murray a possible way out.  Murray’s defense team seemed fixated on blaming Jackson for voluntarily overdosing orally with Propofol—the potent, fast-acting anesthetic that eventually killed Jackson.

            Many of Jackson’s fans were angry with Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley for charging Murray with only involuntary manslaughter, a charge with a lesser burden of proof than voluntary manslaughter or second-degree murder.  Without proper training in anesthesiology, Murray set up an intravenous drip of Propofol—a powerful fast-acting anesthetic widely used for minor surgeries.  Sometime in the early morning of June 25, 2009, Murray found Jackson not breathing without a pulse.  While police and press reports differ, Murray didn’t call paramedics for hours, only after completing numerous personal phone calls to his girlfriend and others, apparently panicking about the pop singer’s death.  When paramedics arrived at Jackson’s Holmby Hills home at 11:30 a.m. he was clinically dead.  Whether Murray’s delayed response caused Jackson’s death is anyone’s guess.

            With involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors don’t have to show “intent” or “malice aforethought” with the killing.  Murray reportedly earned $120 thousand a month for managing Jackson’s medical needs—a job Murray, no doubt, would have liked to keep.   Yet Murray’s actions performing a risky medical procedure without clinical precedent or proper monitoring equipment clearly showed that he engaged in gross negligence resulting in Jackson’s death.  When the Aug. 28, 2009 coroner’s report indicated that Jackson died from a Propfol overdose, Murray’s defense team, led by Ed Chernoff, scrambled to find a credible defense, claiming that Jackson slugged down a bottle of Propofol that stopped his heart.  Chernoff’s trial balloon was purely speculative, responding the coroner’s report that they found “trace amounts” of Propofol in Jackson’s stomach on autopsy.

            Chernoff blamed prosecutors for “springing” new theories about Jackson’s death, prompting the defense to ask Judge Pastor for the continuance.  Prosecutors “hurriedly attempting to repair a case that he felt needed bolstering,” said Chernoff, asking for the delay.    Chernoff asked for the delay after prosecutors presented expert witness Dr. Steven Shafer who said Jackson could not have died from orally ingested Propofol  Shafer revealed that the liver would have metabolized 99% of the drug before it reached the bloodstream, defuncting the defense’s theory.  Deputy DA David Walgren refuted the defense’s charge that they introduced a “new theory.”  Walgren insisted that the DA’s effort to begin the trial in May was not to railroad the defense but to give Murray a speedy trial.  Chernoff isn’t sure how defend Murray’s charge that Jackson OD’d at his own hands.

            Prosecutors will try to establish that Murray invented his own dangerous treatment for insomnia.  Creating a makeshift operating room and hooking Jackson up to a Propofol IV, prosecutors claim that Murray engaged in gross negligence causing Jackson’s death.  With the corner confirming a Propofol overdose, the defense had no choice other than blaming it on Jackson.  Engaging in risky medical procedures open doctors up to more than malpractice once accidental death occurs.  Delaying the case shows that the defense can’t yet counter prosecutors’ claims of malpractice and gross negligence.  It’s going to be a difficult sell for the defense to claim that Jackson inadvertently committed suicide.  Jackson’s successful dress rehearsal indicates he was pleased with the show and ready to travel across the pond to perform at the highest levels for the British audience.

            Murray’s delay indicates that the defense is running scared, no longer possessing a coherent theory of Jackson’s death.   Granting Jackson’s defense team four more months to prepare doesn’t change the overall theory or facts of the case.  Murray engaged in gross negligence and incompetence administering Jackson Propofol to treat chronic insomnia.  No medical research indicates that anesthesia provides an appropriate treatment for insomnia or any other sleep disorder.  Murray’s lack of training in psychiatry or anesthesia validates his incompetence and gross negligence in treating insomnia.  When the jury is picked next September, Chernoff & Co. will have difficulty ruling out jurors with prejudice toward the Trinidad-Tobago-born doctor.  Whatever expert witnesses the defense finds, they’re going to be hard-pressed to accept the defense’s theory that Jackson killed himself.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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