The Trial of Micheal Jackson's Doctor

 Could've Micheal Jackson's death been prevented if his personal physician wasn't negligent?

The Death of Micheal Jackson

On the morning of June 25, 2009, pop singer Micheal Jackson didn't come out of his bedroom after going to sleep the night earlier. Jackson's physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, entered the room to find Jackson lying on his bed, unresponsive. Dr. Murray stated that Jackson was not breathing, with a weak pulse, but he was still warm. Dr. Murray then administered a non-traditional version of CPR for about 5-10 minutes. At this point, Murray realized it was necessary to call 9-1-1, but in testimony, he stated that he was hindered because there was no landline telephone in the house. He also said that he could not use his cell phone to call 9-1-1 because he did not know the exact address. Murray then ran downstairs and told a chef to bring security to the room. Murray's lawyer stated that at least 30 minutes passed before security made the phone call to the paramedics. According to the LAFD, the 9-1-1 call came in at 12:21 p.m. Paramedics arrived at the Jackson estate and began assisting him at 12:26 p.m. When paramedics arrived, he was still not breathing. Paramedics performed CPR for 42 minutes at the estate. Dr. Murray's attorney stated that Jackson had a pulse when he was taken out of the house and put in the ambulance. This account contradicted that of an LAFD officer who said that the paramedics found Jackson in "full cardiac arrest," and he remained in this state throughout the ambulance ride to the hospital. The ambulance arrived at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center at approximately 1:14 p.m, where a team of medical personnel attempted to resuscitate him for more than an hour but were unsuccessful. Micheal Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. at age 50. On August 28, 2009, the Los Angeles County coroner classified Jackson's death as a homicide even though foul play was not suspected, determining that Jackson died from combined drug intoxication, with the most potent drugs being the anesthetic propofol and the anxiolytic lorazepam, and less effective drugs found in Jackson's body being midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine, and ephedrine. After further investigations, the DA filed charges of involuntary manslaughter against Dr. Conrad Murray.

The Trial of Dr. Conrad Murray

The trial of Dr. Conrad Murray began on September 27, 2011. The prosecution was led by Los Angeles deputy district attorneys David Walgren and Deborah Brazil. They based their case around the negligence of Dr. Murray and how that negligence directly caused the death of Micheal Jackson. The defense of Dr. Murray was led by Edward Chernoff, Matthew Alford, J. Michael Flanagan, and Nareg Gourjian. He built their case to prove that Micheal Jackson took drugs like lorazepam (Ativa) without the knowledge of Dr. Murray. "When Dr. Murray left the room, Jackson self-administered a dose of propofol that, with the lorazepam, created a perfect storm in his body that ultimately killed him. The whole thing is tragic, but the evidence is not that Dr. Murray did it", Chernoff said. Testimony during the trial showed Murray stayed with Jackson at least six nights a week and was repeatedly asked by the insomniac singer to give him drugs powerful enough to sleep at night. While the defense showed that Jackson desperately wanted drugs that would allow him to sleep, the prosecution showed that Dr. Murray administered drugs that created the perfect storm to kill Micheal Jackson. According to testimony from Dr. Murray, he claimed that he initially gave lorazepam and midazolam to Jackson, but after Jackson continually asked him for "milk" (propofol), he felt pressured to do so. He then administered 25mgs of propofol to Jackson in a diluted mixture with saline. Dr. Murray said he would give Jackson 50mgs of propofol to help him sleep every night for 2 months before his death. Dr. Murray also stated that he gave Jackson 25mgs the night of his death due to the other drugs he had previously administered earlier. But Dr. Conrad Murray's negligence of Jackson became evident when the prosecution rested their case. On November 7, 2011, Dr. Conrad Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 4 years in prison. But Dr. Murray would be released just 2 years later due to prison overcrowding and good behavior.