Dr. Conrad Murray's Defense in Full Panic

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright September 5, 2011
All Rights Reserved.                                         

           After Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael E. Pastor denied Aug. 24 a defense motion to sequester jurors, Dr. Conrad Murray’s defense team, led by Houston-based attorney Edward Chernoff, panicked.  Chernoff hoped to get a captive audience much like the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial with which to influence jurors.  When Pastor struck down Chernoff’s witnesses list designed to establish the late pop singer icon Michael Jackson as a drug addict, child molester and financially-strapped spendthrift, Chernoff also got that sinking feeling.  His defense theory was heavily based  on discrediting Jackson, leaving the jury the necessary reasonable doubt.  Faced with an impending Sept. 27 start date, Chernoff filed an emergency petition to have Chernoff reconsider quarantining jurors.  Pastor didn’t buy Chernoff’s pretrial maneuvers, placing his faith in the jury system.

            Murray faces involuntary manslaughter charges for the June 25, 2009 death of then 50-year-old Michael Jackson.  While Murray disappeared for at least 24 hours after Jackson’s death, the circumstances surrounding Jackson’s death point stubbornly toward Murray’s gross medical negligence.  Murray’s defense team wants to paint Jackson as a craven drug and sex addict, with a penchant for underage boys.   Murray claims to have found Jackson in the morning of June 25 lifeless, after he administered Propofol via an intravenous drip to Jackson.  Murray found Jackson lifeless and proceeded to call 911 but only after an hour-long delay in which he ineptly performed unconventional cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. [CPR].  Emergency Room Doctors at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center admitted that Jackson was dead-on-arrival, though the exact time of death was difficult to pinpoint.

            Chernoff’s attempt to sequester jurors was an essential part of defense strategy, hoping to insulate jurors from what promises to be a media circus.  Murray’s defense team wants an appeals court to decide whether or not to sequester jurors, despite knowing it’s the trial judge’s prerogative.  “Because of the international notoriety of Mr. Jackson, it would be impossible for a juror to browse any news source on television or the Internet without seeing a boldly printed headline discussing the “trial,” said Chernoff’s 28-page petition.  Murray’s defense team has the daunting challenge of convincing a 12-member jury that Jackson overdosed himself with Propofol.  Los Angeles County District Attorney charged Murray with involuntary manslaughter for administering a lethal dose of Propofol.  Prosecutors contend that Propofol is only for use in carefully controlled and well-monitored operating rooms.

            Chenroff hopes to convince jurors that Jackson, a chronic prescription drug abuser, overdosed on his own, without medical approval.  Defense attorneys have the steep slope convincing jurors that it’s legitimate to treat insomnia with a surgical anesthetic.  If they could show Jackson had a history of erratic behavior, the jury might give Dr. Murray the benefit of the doubt.  Regardless of defense maneuvers, it’s doubtful an appeals court would usurp the authority of a trial court to control the courtroom.  If the outcome of the trial reveals extreme prejudice, that’s when an appeals courts gets involved.  Regardless of Pastor’s views on sequestering the jury, there’s little precedent for a defense team to make such requests to appeals courts.  Chernoff had no problem with Pastror authorizing cameras in the courtroom, something bound to affect prosecutors and defense attorneys alike.

            Murray’s defense team is most concerned about Pastor’s pretrial rulings, limiting the defense’s witness list and preventing Chernoff from trying Jackson’s credibility.  Pastor wants to limit testimony to what happened in the wee hours of June 25, 2009, where Murray administered a Propofol drip to Jackson in his bedroom without proper training in anesthesia or monitory equipment.  Chernoff knows that there’s no known legitimate medical treatment using Propofol to treat insomnia.  Medical experts believe Murray engaged in gross medical negligence using an operating room anesthetic to treat insomnia.  No matter how his defense team tries to spin it, Murray grossly violated the standard-of-care in terms of (a) applying a treatment for which he had no training or expertise and (b) using an unconventional and unproven treatment resulting in Jackson’s death.

            Seeking to delay the inevitable, Murray’s defense team has no right to second guess the trial court judge with respect to sequestering jurors.  If Judge Pastor believes the media circus connected with the case prejudices jurors, he can always sequester jurors after the trial begins.  Pastor has every right to control the circumstances surrounding the trial in his courtroom.  Chernoff’s attempt to seek injunctive relief in an appeals court before the trial buys the defense more time but doesn’t change the basic facts of the case. It’s Pastor’s call to determine the admissibility of evidence in his courtroom.  While Chernoff wishes to try Micheal Jackson’s credibility, Pastor wants the defense to focus on defending Dr. Conrad Murray.  Whatever the outcome, the Jackson family will not be satisfied with a conviction for involuntary manslaughter.  A few months in jail and loss of a medical license won’t bring back Michael.

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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