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Doctor Richelle Cooper, trauma doctor at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles, appeared as a witness at the trial of Dr Conrad Murray yesterday.

She stated that when Michael Jackson arrived at the hospital in an ambulance with Dr Murray, that she asked Dr Murray a number of questions including what medications Jackson had taken.

Dr Murray replied that he had administered only two 2mg doses of lorazepam (commonly used tranquiliser).

Dr Murray went to to speculate to Dr Cooper that the cause of Jackson's heart failure may have been dehydration, caused by overwork. Dr Murray did not mention that he had given Jackson the anaesthetic propofol, later found to have been the cause of Jackson’s death.

Dr Murray has also told told Dr Cooper that he had witnessed the moment tat Jackson had stopped breathing.However, prosecutors claim that, when that happened, Dr Murray had in fact left Jackson’s bedroom to make phone calls.

Dr Cooper told the court that, when Jackson arrived in the ambulance:

 “He was clinically dead. He did not have a pulse.” 

Prosecutors claim that there was a gap of at least 20 minutes between the time Dr Murray noticed that his patient was unresponsive, and calling the emergency services.

It is alleged by the prosecution that Dr Murray used that time to cover up what drugs he had been giving Jackson.

Richard Senneff, the paramedic dispatched to the Jackson mansion, also cast doubt on Dr Murray's openness with medical personnel at the time of Jackson's death.

Mr Senneff asked Dr Murray in Jackson's bedroom what condition Jackson had.

"He said, 'Nothing. He has nothing'."


The trial continues.

Dr Murray Panicked

Michael Jackson's former bodyguard, Alberto Alvarez, appeared at the trial of Dr Conrad Murray yesterday and told the court that Dr Murray grabbed vials of drugs from near the bed and ordered him to put them in bags.

Mr Alvarez was also told to remove a saline bag, contained a “milky white substance” (Propofol) from an IV stand.

The jury was played a tape of Mr Alvarez's 911 call:

"We have a guy here, he’s not breathing. We are trying to jump him."


Kia Chase, Michael Jackson's former chef, also took the stand in the trial of Dr Conrad Murray yesterday.

She said that Dr Murray was acting frantically at the scene of his death.

She said that Dr Murray came downstairs in a panic, calling for her to call security as well as Jackson's oldest son, Prince.

"I saw Dr Murray come down the stairs into the kitchen in a panic and frantic," she told the packed courtroom.

His energy was very nervous and frantic and he was shouting 'get help, get security, get Prince', I dropped what I was doing and I ran to go get Prince."

The trial continues.

Day Two of Dr Conrad Murray's Trial

Michael Jackson’s personal assistant, Michael Amir Williams, was in court yesterday to testify on the second day of the trial of Dr Conrad Murray.

Mr Williams said that he first became aware there was a problem when Dr Murray rang him, frantically asking him to come to Jackson’s home. Dr Murray allegedly told him that Jackson had suffered a “bad reaction”, and that immediate help was needed.

However, Dr Murray did not ask Mr Williams to call 911.

Mr Williams described the scene in Jackson's bedroom, seeing Jackson's feet near the side of the bed on the ground.

Dr Murray was administering CPR, and appeared to be very nervous; Jackson appeared to be dead.

Dr Murray then asked Jackson's bodyguards if they knew CPR.

Later, in hospital, Mr Williams stated that Dr Murray approached him in a hallway of UCLA hospital just after Jackson was pronounced dead and allegedly said that there was some cream in Jackson's room that he wouldn’t want the world to know about.

Dr Murray then allegedly asked Mr Williams to drive him back to the house to get it.

Mr Williams refused.

He went on to testify that he Jackson’s bodyguard, Faheem Muhammed, not to let Dr Murray back into the house.

The trial continues.

The "Perfect Storm"

The trial of Dr Conrad Murray, accused of involuntary manslaughter over Michael Jackson's sudden death in June 2009, has now begun.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, it has turned into something of a circus as fans of Jackson, a Jackson impersonator and detractors of Dr Murray thronged the pavements outside Los Angeles Superior Court.

The prosecution allege that Jackson was killed by Dr Murray's (on a monthly retainer of $150K); negligence. They showed a video of Jackson rehearsing less than 24 hours before he died, and then a photo of his dead body on a mortuary trolley.

Additionally, a voice recording of Jackson clearly under the influence of drugs, from May 2009, was also played to the jury.

The prosecution allege that Dr Murray gave Jackson the powerful anaesthetic propofol, as a sleep aid at the singer's Los Angeles mansion in June 2009, but then failed to monitor him.

The defence contend that Jackson self administered a variety of drugs (eg very high doses of Lorazepam) to such an extent that he created the "perfect storm" of drugs in his body.

In the US some are questioning the prosecution's "shock tactics", as members of the Jackson family and members of the jury were clearly distressed in court.

The trial continues.

Dr Conrad Murray's Trial

The trial of Dr Conrad Murray officially begins today, he is accused of delivering a fatal dose of anaesthetic to Michael Jackson.

Proceedings also will be televised and broadcast online.

During a pre-trial hearing last night, Nareg Gourjian, a lawyer for Murray, claimed that Jackson was unconscious backstage before his March 2009 London news conference for his This Is It concert series, and that he appeared drunk during the announcement itself.

Judge Michael Pastor,  presiding over Murray's trial, has ruled that tape of the alleged incident should not be shown to jurors. The rationale being that the video was irrelevant, because it occurred months before Jackson died.

Dr Conrad Murray's Trial Starts Tuesday

The trial of Doctor Conrad Murray, for the alleged manslaughter of Michael Jackson, is set to begin this week with opening statements tomorrow (Tuesday).

However, lawyers for both prosecution and defence will be in court today (Monday) to settle pending motions before the trial starts.

The jury of 11 has been selected and is ready to listen to the evidence.