Witness in Conrad Murray trial fined $250 for disobeying judge
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[size=12pt][size=12pt]Witness in Conrad Murray trial fined $250 for disobeying judge[/size][/size]<br />November 16, 2011 | 11:11 am <br /><br /><br />Dr. Paul White<br /><br />A judge on Wednesday ordered the star defense expert in the trial of Michael Jackson’s personal physician to pay a $250 fine for flouting court instructions that he not mention private conversations with the doctor on the witness stand.<br /><br />Dr. Paul White, a prominent anesthesiology researcher who testified that Jackson caused his own fatal overdose, apologized at a hearing for making the statement during testimony last month. He said he was an inexperienced witness who became confused about what he was allowed to tell jurors.<br /><br />“I was trying to walk a very fine line between telling everything I knew honestly and openly before the court and not delving into things I came to know as the result of 10 or 11 hours of conversation with Dr. [Conrad] Murray,” White told Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor.<br />A jury convicted Murray of involuntary manslaughter last week for providing Jackson with the surgical anesthetic, propofol, which killed the singer.<br /><br />White was warned before taking the stand by defense lawyers that he could not tell jurors what Murray told him and should refer only to information contained in a police interview. During a contentious cross-examination, White repeatedly referenced his talks with Murray despite warnings from the judge and prosecutor.<br /><br />The final straw came when White replied to a question from Deputy Dist. Atty. David Walgren by saying: “I was asked by the judge not to comment on anything I had learned from speaking to Dr. Murray.”<br /><br />At the hearing Wednesday, Walgren blasted White for “deliberately trying to sabotage” the trial, a remark the judge dismissed as “hyperbole.”<br /><br />Pastor found White in contempt but said that after hearing the expert’s explanation, he had decided to reduce the fine from $1,000 to $250. The judge also said he had decided not to find White in contempt for allegedly calling a prosecution expert a “scumbag.”<br /><br />White had denied the accusation, and the judge said he had determined it did not constitute contempt of court.<br /><br />Murray is in jail pending Nov. 29 sentencing. He faces a maximum of four years in prison.<br /><br />http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/conrad-murray-trial-1.html
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