Michael Jackson's Phone Call

During yesterday's hearing, at the trial of Dr Conrad Murray, the court were played the full tape recording made by Dr Murray of Jackson's drug addled phone call to the doctor made on 10 May 2009.

The four minute audio recording was found on Dr Murray's mobile phone by Stephen Marx, a  forensic digital expert.

Quite why Dr Murray made the recording is open to speculation.

Mr Marx testified that he retrieved another recording from Dr Murray's phone, along with other files that showed the doctor busy emailing, texting and dealing with messages about insurance for Jackson's concerts.

Why would a doctor be involved in administration tasks such as this?

The trial continues.

Four Gallons - "Maintaining My Instrument"

Nicole Alvarez, Dr Conrad Murray's girlfriend, has told the jury at the trial of Dr Murray that she received packages from a pharmacy (on behalf of Dr Murray) but that she did not know what they were.


Prosecutors told jurors last week that Murray received 255 propofol vials (4 gallons) at the apartment of Alvarez.

"I do remember receiving shipments ... every now and then." Alvarez (who does not come across as the "brightest pebble" on the beach) said.

Tim Lopez, the former owner of Applied Pharmacy in Las Vegas, told the court that he sent 255 vials of propofol by express delivery to the Santa Monica apartment after Murray told him it was the address for his medical office in California.

The prosecution also claim that Dr Murray called/texted various women (including Alvarez) in the short time leading up to Jackson's death and after it.

The trial continues.

Dead on Arrival

As the trial of Dr Conrad Murray resumed this week, Dr Richelle Cooper told jurors that Dr Murray never mentioned that he had given Michael Jackson propofol.

She went on to say that she never asked Dr Murray to sign a death certificate because Jackson, once inside Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, became her patient. She stated that despite giving paramedics permission to pronounce Jackson dead, Dr Murray wanted resuscitation efforts to continue.
Dr Thao Nguyen, the hospital cardiologist who was on call the day Jackson died, said that she had asked Dr Murray whether Jackson had any drugs in his system. Murray said that Jackson had been given lorazepam, but did not mention any other drugs.

Dr Nguyen said:

"I asked whether there were other narcotics or sedatives besides adovan [lorazepam] that was given.

Nothing else. In that idea, like no other drugs."



The trial continues.

Details Missing

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.

Paramedic's Transcript Leaked

The UK's Daily Mirror has seen the transcript of Richard Senneff's (the LA paramedic who tried to save Michael Jackson) statement.

According to the Mirror, Senneff alleges that Dr Conrad Murray (when referring to Jackson) said:

"He doesn’t have a problem. He is fine.


He was practising all night. I’m just treating him for dehydration.”

When asked if Jackson was on medication, Murray allegedly replied:

“No, he is not taking anything.”

Moments later Dr Murray then allegedly said that he had given Jackson lorazepam “to help him sleep”.

Senneff then claimed that he saw Dr Murray clearing bottles from the room.

Cash Poor, Asset Rich

Michael Jackson died cash poor, but asset rich.

Two years since his death there has been a dramatic turn around in his finances.

Court documents show that his estate has generated more than $310M, which has enabled executors to distribute a preliminary payment of $30M to Jackson's mother and children, and to unnamed charities.

Additionally, the estate has been able to pay off numerous approved creditors' claims as well as Jackson's income taxes.

Jury Search Commences

The search for jurors for the forthcoming trial of Doctor Conrad Murray has moved up a notch.

Prospective jurors have completed a 166 question (30 page questionnaire), which has whittled numbers down to 145 potential jurors cleared for further questioning.

Among the myriad of questions were the following:

- Have potential jurors read newspaper stories about Michael Jackson's death?
- Have they followed coverage of legal developments?
- Did they watch the funeral or memorial service for Jackson, or did they try to attend the services in person?

The next phase of juror selection will be in court questioning on September 23rd.