Jackson doctor's defense challenges key expert

PureLovePureLove Posts: 5,891
edited January 1970 in Dr. Conrad Murray
[size=14pt]Jackson doctor's defense challenges key expert[/size]<br /><br />5e4bb2b6986b2617fc0e6a70670040ae.jpg<br />Anesthesiology expert Dr. Steven Shafer holds a bottle of propofol while testifying …<br /><br />The lead attorney for the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death challenged a key prosecution expert Friday about his contention that the physician was responsible for the death of the singer.<br /><br />431d962e986c2617fc0e6a706700ff4e.jpg<br />Dr. Conrad Murray looks on during his involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles, …<br /><br />Attorney Ed Chernoff cross-examined Dr. Steven Shafer, who previously testified that the only plausible explanation for the death was that Jackson had been hooked up to an IV drip of the anesthetic propofol then left alone by Dr. Conrad Murray.<br /><br />"That's a bold claim, isn't it," Chernoff asked.<br /><br />"It's an honest statement," Shafer replied.<br /><br />Chernoff also questioned the Columbia University researcher and professor about his IV demonstration for jurors on Thursday.<br /><br />The defense attorney suggested Shafer had drawn conclusions that weren't necessarily supported by the evidence. Chernoff said the type of IV line that Shafer used in the demonstration was never found at Jackson's house.<br /><br />Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He could face up to four years behind bars and the loss of his medical license if convicted.<br /><br />Shafer was expected to be the last witness called by the prosecution. After Shafer's testimony ends, defense attorneys will begin presenting their case.<br /><br />Shafer, an expert on propofol, told jurors Thursday that his explanation was supported by items found in Jackson's bedroom, the singer's autopsy results and Murray's lengthy statement to police.<br /><br />Using charts and his own experience, Shafer said Jackson likely stopped breathing because of the propofol and without someone to clear his airway. The propofol would have kept dripping into the IV tube, with gravity carrying it into the singer's body, he said.<br /><br />Shafer also rejected any theory that Jackson could have given himself the fatal dose of the anesthetic or sedatives.<br /><br />In a development outside the presence of jurors, Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor set a Nov. 16 hearing to determine whether he should find a key defense expert, Dr. Paul White, in contempt for talking to a reporter on Thursday in violation of a gag order.<br /><br />E! Entertainment reported Thursday on its website that White called the prosecutor a "scumbag" and spoke about Shafer.<br /><br />White said in court that he didn't recall making the statement.<br /><br />He told Pastor that he had talked to Deputy District Attorney David Walgren after the prosecutor pulled a tab from the side of a bottle of propofol that was recovered at Jackson's mansion.<br /><br />He said he told Walgren it was "inappropriate to tamper with evidence found at the scene."<br /><br />White and Shafer are colleagues at Columbia University and have known each other for nearly 30 years.<br /><br />Pastor previously ordered Chernoff's partner, Matt Alford, to appear at a contempt hearing over comments made during a network TV interview.<br /><br />http://news.yahoo.com/jackson-doctors-defense-challenges-key-expert-211710268.html

Comments

  • Can't wait for Dr.White's testimony, will he be testifying first or will Randy Phillips?<br /><br /><br />Also I like the fact that Dr.Shafer will be present during White's testimony, maybe we will hear a few name calls from him...douchebag maybe... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ...jk
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    <br />Can't wait for Dr.White's testimony, will he be testifying first or will Randy Phillips?<br /><br /><br />Also I like the fact that Dr.Shafer will be present during White's testimony, maybe we will hear a few name calls from him...douchebag maybe... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: ...jk<br />
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    ...douchebag maybe... icon_lol.gif icon_lol.gif icon_lol.gif icon_lol.gif icon_lol.gif
    <br /> lolol/  douchebag  :lol:  ...or "overdated salium bag" or smthg. <br /><br />Fact is, that "scumbag" in the Murray trial got media attention. I see that word everywhere on the web in relation to this trial. <br /> <br />Conrad Murray defense expert to face contempt hearing<br />By Harriet Ryan and Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times<br />              Saturday, October 22, 2011 -  Updated 19 hours ago<br /><br />LOS ANGELES – The judge in the trial of Michael Jackson’s personal physician said Friday he was considering contempt of court charges against a key defense witness for reportedly calling a prosecution expert "a scumbag."<br />The trial judge, who had previously issued a gag order against participants in the case, grilled prominent anesthesiologist Dr. Paul White about comments on the trial attributed to him that appeared Thursday on E! Online. White is expected to testify as a medical expert for the defense of Dr. Conrad Murray.White denied making the remark, but acknowledged to a clearly irked Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor that he made other critical comments about Dr. Steven Shafer, a New York anesthesiologist with whom he has had a long and previously amiable professional relationship.<br />"I am going to take the high road, not the low road with him," E! Online’s website quoted White as saying. "I was his teacher when he was a medical student. The truth will come out. It always does."<br />Pastor set a hearing for Nov. 16 on possible sanctions against White and defense attorneys.<br />"You have no business making any of those comments," the judge said.<br />The spat goes to show how important the testimony of the two men – leading experts in the field of anesthesiology and the drugs used in it – are to either side in the case.<br />Shafer categorically testified for prosecutors Thursday that Murray’s account of the hours leading up to Jackson’s death was not supported by the level of the drugs later found in the singer’s blood.<br />White’s comments about Shafer came after the prosecution witness testified that he was "disappointed" in his old colleague for embracing a defense theory that the singer might have caused his own death by drinking propofol. A principle taught to first-year medical students made it clear that was improbable, Shafer said.<br />Cross-examining Shafer on Friday, a defense attorney lambasted the expert for publicly humiliating White. He noted that the defense had discarded the theory before the trial began.<br />"That’s a very dismissive statement isn’t it," lawyer Ed Chernoff asked.<br />"I was very disappointed," Shafer replied. "Still disappointed."<br />"You said that in court knowing that the TVs are here," Chernoff said.<br />A prosecutor objected and the judge barred the question as argumentative.<br />Murray’s defense is to open its case next week. If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, he faces a maximum of four years in prison.<br />http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/west/view.bg?&articleid=1375191&format=&page=1&listingType=natwest#articleFull<br />
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