Prosecutors: MJ Doctor Motivated By Money (CNN)

everlastinglove_MJ · September 2011

[size=14pt]Prosecutors: MJ Doctor Motivated By Money [/size] Doctor Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter  By the CNN Wire Staff POSTED: 1:55 am EDT September 27, 2011 UPDATED: 5:09 pm EDT September 27, 2011 LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Jurors in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor Tuesday heard dramatic opening statements -- one portraying Dr. Conrad Murray as motivated by money, the other contending his superstar client self-administered a fatal mix of drugs. Murray abandoned "all principles of medical care" in attending to Jackson, prosecutor David Walgren said Tuesday in his opening statement. Murray acquired massive quantities of the powerful surgical anesthetic propofol to help Jackson sleep, giving him a final dose of the drug after a long, restless night when the singer begged for help sleeping, according to recordings played by prosecutors. Murray gave in to Jackson's demands not because it was the right medical decision, but because he was motivated by a $150,000 a month contract to serve as Jackson's doctor, Walgren claimed. "The evidence in this case will show that Michael Jackson trusted his life to the medical skills of Conrad Murray, unequivocally that that misplaced trust had far too high a price to pay," Walgren said. "That misplaced trust in the hands of Conrad Murray cost Michael Jackson his life." If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Murray, who wiped away tears during his lawyer's opening statement, could spend four years in a California prison and lose his medical license. Murray's defense attorney Ed Chernoff blamed Jackson's death on drugs that Murray did not give him or know about. Scientific evidence will show that the morning Jackson died he swallowed a sedative without his doctor's knowledge, "enough to put six of you to sleep and he did this when Dr. Murray was not around," Chernoff said. Jackson, desperate for sleep, then self-ingested a dose of propofol, creating "a perfect storm that killed him instantly," Chernoff said. "When Dr. Murray came into the room and found Michael Jackson, there was no CPR, no paramedic, no machine that was going to revive Michael Jackson," he said. "He died so rapidly, so instantly that he didn't have time to close his eyes," Chernoff said. Chernoff told jurors that Murray was trying to wean Jackson off propofol when Jackson died. "Evidence won't show that Michael Jackson died when Dr. Murray gave him propofol for sleep," Chernoff said. "The evidence will show that Michael Jackson died when Dr. Murray stopped." Jackson was addicted to Demerol, prescribed by another doctor, and his insomnia was at least in part related to that, according to Chernoff. Jackson's inability to sleep on the morning he died was "one of the insidious effects" of Demerol addiction withdrawal, he said. Since Murray did not know about the Demerol he could not understand why Jackson was unable to fall asleep that morning, Chernoff said. Jackson told Murray a day before he died that he had to be able to get sleep in order to do rehearsals for upcoming concerts, Chernoff said. "I have to sleep, I have to get some sleep. They will cancel my rehearsals. I will lose that performance," Chernoff quoted Jackson as saying. Chernoff said Tuesday that he will challenge prosecution assertions that greed factored into Murray's treatment of Jackson. "If the prosecution is going to tell you he is greedy, callous and reckless you need to hear the full story," he told jurors, adding Jackson was the only celebrity Murray ever met. Jackson died June 25, 2009, several hours after Murray agreed to give him propofol after several other drugs had failed to help him sleep, according to prosecutors. "Just make me sleep. It doesn't matter what time I get up," Murray quoted Jackson as telling him, according to a recording of a police interview played in court. He agreed to administer the drug and Jackson fell asleep. After he left to go to the bathroom, he discovered Jackson was no longer breathing. Walgren argued Murray was not a specialist with anesthetics and said he misused the drug, which he said can suppress proper function of the heart and lungs. "It is not a sleep aid, it is not a sleep agent," Walgren told jurors. "It is a general anesthetic." Between April 6, 2009, and the time of Michael Jackson's death, Murray ordered enough propofol to give Jackson 1,937 milligrams a day, Walgren said. Murray told police he gave the entertainer doses of propofol virtually every night for two months, according to a recording played in court. Murray also used a cheap instrument to monitor oxygen levels in Jackson's blood. The device was "utterly useless" unless Murray constantly monitored it because it lacked an alarm that would go off if Jackson's heart and lungs were not working to get enough oxygen into his lungs, Walgren said. Jurors also heard a dramatic recording, captured by Murray's own iPhone, of Jackson "highly under the influences of unknown agents," slurring his speech as he talked about his planned comeback concert, according to Walgren. "We have to be phenomenal," Jackson said in a low voice, his speech dramatically slurred. "When people leave this show, when people leave my show, I want them to say, 'I've never seen nothing like this in my life. Go. Go. I've never seen nothing like this. Go. It's amazing. He's the greatest entertainer in the world.' I'm taking that money, a million children, children's hospital, the biggest in the world, Michael Jackson's Children's Hospital." The tape, prosecutors say, is evidence that Murray knew about Jackson's health weeks before his death. Murray "repeatedly acted with gross negligence, repeatedly denied care, appropriate care, to his patient, Michael Jackson, and it was Dr. Murray's repeated incompetent and unskilled acts that led to Michael Jackson's death," Walgren told jurors. Prosecutors contend that Murray used a makeshift intravenous drip to administer propofol intended to help Jackson sleep, a practice they argue violated the standard of care and led to the pop star's death. He never told emergency responders or emergency room doctors trying to save Jackson's life that he had been dosed with the propofol, Walgren said. The long-awaited trial has attracted both the media and gawkers to the courthouse. A woman rushed toward Murray Tuesday as he was walking to the courtroom, but she was stopped by three deputies guarding him. The woman said she just wanted to talk to Murray. It was unclear if she was being detained, but she was no longer in the hallway shortly after the incident. Jackson's parents, brothers Tito, Jermaine and Randy, and sisters La Toya, Janet and Rebe filled one row in the small Los Angeles courtroom for opening statements and the first witness Tuesday. Jackson's three children are not expected to attend the trial or testify, according to a source close to their grandmother, Katherine Jackson. Michael Jackson was preparing for his "This Is It" comeback concerts, set for London's O2 Arena, when he died. Murray's lawyers indicated Monday, in a meeting in the judge's chambers, they would argue that pressure to be ready for the 50 scheduled shows was too much for the singer. Murray's defense wants the judge to let them show the jury Jackson's contract with concert promoter AEG, which they say was the source of the pressure on him. "There were some problems with his relationship with AEG and his rehearsals, which may have led AEG to pull the plug on this particular O2 concert series," Chernoff said. "This has a tremendous stressful and important mental effect on Michael Jackson and impacted the decisions that he made." CNN's Alan Duke contributed to this report. Copyright CNN 2011 Read more: