Jury's Out

The jury in the trial of Dr Conrad Murray is now considering its verdict.

Dr Conrad Murray Will Not Testify

Dr Conrad Murray finally came to a decision about whether he will take the witness stand or not in his trial.

He told the judge, whilst the jury was out of the room, that he would not testify.

At which point the defence rested its case and the prosecution, after presenting brief rebuttal testimony, closed its presentation of evidence.

Defence and prosecution will now prepare and present their closing arguments.

Doctors Disagree

Dr Paul White continued his testimony at the trail of Dr Conrad Murray, and told the court that he believed that Michael Jackson took the anaesthetic Propofol by rapidly injecting it.

Dr White thought it was possible that Jackson had got out of bed, even though he was attached to a saline IV and a urine collection device, found a syringe with 25mg of Propofol in it, got back in to bed, and administered it to himself.

Dr Shafer, his friend and colleague, dismissed the theory as a "crazy scenario", noting that Jackson would have to have injected himself several times to achieve such high levels of propofol in his body.

Dr White, for his part, said that he would not have accepted a job that involved administering Propofol in a non medical setting.

Dr Murray is considering whether he will take the stand himself.

The trial continues.

Jackson Self Administered Drug

Dr Paul White, an anaesthesiologist, gave testimony at the trial of Dr Conrad Murray yesterday. He stated that, in his opinion, Michael Jackson injected himself with a dose of propofol after an initial dose provided by Dr Murray had worn off.

He also stated that Jackson had self administered a dose of lorazepam (a tranquilliser).

The combination of the two drugs had lethal consequences.

Dr White gave a demonstration of how propofol could have entered Jackson's veins, in the small dose (25mg) that Dr Murray claimed that he had given Jackson. Such a dosage, according to Dr White, would have only had an effect on Jackson for around 10-15 minutes. Hence Jackson's "need/desire" to administer another dose.


The trial continues.

Drug Dependency

Dr Robert Waldman, a drug addiction specialist, has given testimony at the trial of Dr Conrad Murray.

He stated that despite the fact that Michael Jackson was getting large regular shots of the painkiller Demerol (for his botox treatment), in the months before his death, he could not state unequivocally that Jackson was addicted to painkillers.

Dr Murray's defence team contend that Jackson was addicted to various drugs, and that he engaged in "doctor shopping". They argue that Dr Murray was unaware that Jackson was getting shots of the addictive painkiller Demerol from Dr Arnold Klein. Ironically Demerol would have negated Dr Murray's treatment for Jackson's sleep disorder.

Dr Waldman did, however, contend that Jackson was "dependent" (ie had a physical need, but not destructive need, for a drug) on Demerol.

The trial continues.

Compassion

Ruby Mosley, a former patient of Dr Conrad Murray, brought Dr Murray to tears as she testified on his behalf at his trial yesterday.

She and four other former patients gave testimony about Dr Murray's medical skills, and described him as a kind and generous physician.

Ms Mosley (she met Dr Murray when he opened his clinic in Acres Home, where most residents were elderly and on fixed incomes) said of Dr Murray:


"If this man was greedy he never would have come to the community."

Another former patient, Gerry Causey, said:

"The reason I came here to help Dr Murray is I know his love, his compassion, his feeling for his patients, every one of them and I just don't think he did what he's accused of doing."

Andrew Guest testified:

"I'm alive today because of that man. That man sitting there is the best doctor I've ever seen."


The trial continues.

Those spectators outside of the court who have expressed vitriol towards Dr Murray would do well to remember that (whether he is found guilty or not of the charges made against him) those who show compassion deserve to be treated with compassion when they face tribulations.

Jackson Asked For Drug

Cherilyn Lee, a nurse, gave testimony at the trial of Dr Conrad Murray.

She tearfully stated that she had warned Michael Jackson against using propofol.

"He was sitting very close to me.

He looked at me and said, 'I have a lot of difficulty sleeping. I've tried a lot of things and I need something that will make me fall asleep right away. 

I need Dipravan."

The trial continues.

Prosecution Rests

The prosecution in the trial of Dr Conrad Murray is now resting. Dr Murray's defence team are now in the "driving seat".

Yesterday Dr Murray's lawyer, Ed Chernoff, challenged Dr Steven  Shafer's theory that there was no way that Michael Jackson could have killed himself by self administering Lorazepam and propofol.

Dr Shafer stuck to his guns, and reittereated that in his view it was not possible that Jackson killed himself.

Alex Supall, who visited Jackson's home the evening after his death, discussed the security and surveillance systems set up at Jackson's home. The defence asked Mr Supall why he had only submitted a few minutes of footage to the investigation. The rationale apparently being that Mr Supall had copied Jackson's arrival in order to establish a timeline for his return home.


The trial continues.

Defence Question Dr Shafer

Dr Conrad Murray's defence lawyer, Ed Chernoff, cross-examined Dr Steven Shafer in court.

Mr Chernoff questioned Dr Shafer's contention that Michael Jackson had been hooked up to an IV drip of the anesthetic propofol, and was then left alone by Dr Conrad Murray.

"That's a bold claim, isn't it?" Mr Chernoff asked.

Dr Shafer replied:

"It's an honest statement."

Mr Chernoff went on to suggest that Dr Shafer had drawn conclusions that were not necessarily supported by the evidence. Mr Chernoff said the type of IV line that Dr Shafer used in a demonstration for the jury was never found at Jackson's house.

Crazy!

Dr Steven Shafer continued to give evidence at the trail of Dr Conrad Muraay yesterday.

"Clueless" in "Never-Never Land"

The trial of Dr Conrad Murray has resumed, and Dr Steven Shafer has returned to the witness box.

In Dr Shafer's view Dr Murray made 17 flagrant violations when administering propofol to Michael Jackson. Dr Shafer told the court that the drug should never be used to treat insomnia, and Dr Conrad Murray's negligence was directly responsible for Jackson's death.

He went on to castigate Dr Murray as being "clueless" about the drug.

Dr Shafer sated that Dr Murray did not know how to respond when Jackson stopped breathing, and was dumbfounded by the delay in calling 911:

"I almost don't know what to say. That is so completely and utterly inexcusable."

Wrt using propofol as a sleeping aid, Dr Shafer said caustically:

"We are in pharmacological never-never land here, something that was done to Michael Jackson and no one else in history to my knowledge..

A competent doctor would know you do not do this."


The trial continues.

Further Delay To Trial

The trial of Dr Conrad Murray has been put on hold at least until Wednesday, in order to give defence council the time to study new lab test results wrt the contents of Michael Jackson's stomach.

The prosecution contends that the results show that that Jackson did not orally ingest a fatal overdose of lorazepam (a sedative).

The Los Angeles County coroner tested Jackson's stomach contents for lorazepam last Wednesday, at the request of the prosecution.

The defence have contended that Jackson orally ingested 8 tablets on the day he died.

The trial will resume, at the earliest on Wednesday.