Michael Jackson took drugs that 'killed him instantly,' doctor's lawyer says
Dr. Conrad Murray 'acted with gross negligence' in Michael Jackson's death, the prosecutor said in opening arguments, but the defense said the pop star ingested a lethal 'perfect storm' of drugs.
Conrad Murray listens to the prosecution's opening arguments in his involuntary manslaughter trial at Superior Court, Tuesday, in Los Angeles. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical license if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death.
Al Seib/AP
Exhausted and unable to sleep amid the mounting pressures of a fast-approaching comeback concert, pop superstar Michael Jackson gave himself an accidental overdose of drugs that killed him instantly, a defense lawyer said in opening statements Tuesday at the trial of Mr. Jackson鈥檚 personal physician.
Defense attorney Edward Chernoff told the jury of seven men and five women that his client, Dr. Conrad Murray, did not administer a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol to Jackson in June 2009.
Instead, he said, Jackson was taking prescription medications behind Dr. Murray鈥檚 back, and gave himself a final propofol dose with Murray out of the room. The drugs created a 鈥減erfect storm in his body that killed him instantly.鈥�
鈥淲hen Dr. Murray found him, there was no CPR, or doctor, or paramedic, or machine that was going to revive Michael Jackson,鈥� Mr. Chernoff told the jury in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. 鈥淗e died so rapidly, so instantly, that he didn鈥檛 even have time to close his eyes.鈥�
Murray, a cardiologist, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly giving Jackson a fatal dose of propofol while attempting to help Jackson overcome persistent insomnia and get some much-needed rest.
In his opening statement, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren pounded away at Murray鈥檚 actions in the final hours of the pop legend鈥檚 life.
鈥淐onrad Murray repeatedly acted with gross negligence, repeatedly denied appropriate care to his patient Michael Jackson,鈥� Mr. Walgren said. 鈥淚t was Conrad Murray鈥檚 repeated incompetent acts that led to Mr. Jackson鈥檚 death.鈥�
In a surprise move, Walgren played a portion of an audio recording Murray made of Jackson on his iPhone apparently during one of their sedation sessions.
On the recording, Jackson鈥檚 heavily slurred and sluggish voice can be heard discussing his hopes of a successful concert. It offered a shocking contrast to the clear, high-pitched voice that sang so many well-known hit songs over the years.
The prosecutor told the jury that the recording demonstrated Murray鈥檚 knowledge of what he was doing to Jackson. It was made roughly a month and a half before Jackson鈥檚 death.
At the center of the case is the question of how so much propofol got into Jackson鈥檚 system, and whether Murray fulfilled his professional and ethical responsibility by leaving a heavily-sedated patient unmonitored for a period of time.
Murray told investigators he went to the rest room for two minutes 鈥渕aximum,鈥� and then noticed Jackson wasn鈥檛 breathing. But Murray鈥檚 cell phone records show he conducted multiple conversations during the same period.
Walgren told the jury that Murray had agreed to serve as Jackson鈥檚 personal physician for $150,000 a month. His primary responsibility was to help Jackson overcome his insomnia.
Jackson had a preference for the anesthetic propofol. For two months, Murray facilitated that preference by administering a daily dose of propofol to Jackson to help him sleep.
Propofol is usually administered in a surgical setting, such as a hospital or clinic and is not a medically-accepted sleep aid. Nonetheless, Murray agreed to deliver injected and intravenous doses to Jackson in his Los Angeles mansion.
Prosecutors say Murray lied to a pharmaceutical supplier to obtain the substantial quantity of propofol demanded by Jackson. Walgren said that by June 2009, Murray had purchased more than four gallons of propofol, apparently for Jackson鈥檚 use.
The prosecutor said rather than a doctor-patient relationship, the connection between Murray and Jackson was that of employee-employer. 鈥淢urray was not working for the benefit of Michael Jackson or the health of Michael Jackson, he was working for $150,000 a month,鈥� Walgren said.
The prosecutors told the jury that to find Murray guilty of involuntary manslaughter they must agree that he had engaged in serious neglect and gross negligence in Jackson鈥檚 death.
Walgren said the fact that Murray was using propofol to treat insomnia was itself gross negligence. He said the glaring lack of monitoring and emergency resuscitation equipment in Jackson鈥檚 home was gross negligence. Murray鈥檚 decision to leave his sedated patient alone, unmonitored, even for a few moments, was gross negligence, the prosecutor said. And the doctor鈥檚 failure to immediately call 911 upon discovering that Jackson had stopped breathing was also gross negligence.
鈥淏asic common sense requires that 911 be called immediately 鈥� basic common sense. And we know that wasn鈥檛 done,鈥� Walgren told the jury.
Defense attorney Chernoff countered that Murray was trying to wean Jackson off his dependence on propofol and steering him toward other medications. 鈥淗e had always told Michael Jackson you can鈥檛 keep using this,鈥� the lawyer said.
Chernoff said Jackson had developed an addiction to another drug, Demerol, a narcotic pain medication, and was obtaining quantities of it from a Beverly Hills dermatologist.
A side effect of the addiction and attempted withdrawal, he said, is an absolute inability to sleep. Chernoff said Dr. Murray had no idea Jackson had a Demerol dependence and continuing access to the drug through a different physician.
The defense attorney told the jury that an expert witness will testify that Murray could not have killed Jackson if he administered the level of propofol he reported to investigators.
鈥淭he science will prove that there had to be more propofol delivered to Michael Jackson鈥檚 system after Dr. Murray left the room,鈥� Chernoff said. He told the jury that at some point Jackson swallowed up to eight doses of the anti-anxiety drug Lorazepam without telling Murray, and that after Murray gave him a modest dose of propofol, Jackson gave himself an additional dose.
鈥淚t killed him, like that,鈥� Chernoff said. 鈥淎nd there was no way to save him.鈥�
The trial is set to continue on Wednesday.