Dr. Conrad Murray Pleads Not Guilty in Michael Jackson's Death

By PopEater Staff Posted Jan 25th 2011 12:32PM

Dr. Conrad Murray pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson on Tuesday, setting up a high-profile trial in which prosecutors will try to prove it was his gross negligence that killed the legendary singer.

Katherine Jackson and her son Randy were among family members that attended the arraignment hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court.

If convicted, Murray could face a maximum of four years in prison. His medical license has been suspended pending the outcome of the trial. If found guilty, Murray will likely never practice medicine again.

Murray has been the focal point of an investigation since Jackson died June 25, 2009, at age 50. Murray acknowledged that he administered the hospital anesthetic propofol and other sedatives as Jackson, a chronic insomniac, struggled to sleep.

A coroner testified during a six-day preliminary that Jackson died of a propofol overdose in combination with other drugs. His death was classified as a homicide. The official coroner's report stated that the standards for administering the drug were not met -- including a lack of necessary monitoring equipment.

In the hearing, Murray said he gave Jackson a low dose of propofol on June 25 after spending several hours trying to get the star to sleep using other drugs. He said that he was just trying to help his client overcome insomnia, but it was pointed out that propofol is a powerful surgical anesthetic and not intended for home use.

When it appeared that the propofol was working, Murray said he left the room, but when he returned, he found Jackson not breathing.

When the star appeared to doze off, Murray said he left the room for two minutes to go to the bathroom, then returned to find Jackson not breathing. He delayed calling 911 for between 25 minutes and an hour while he tried to revive him, testimony showed.

"He abandoned his patient and didn't resuscitate appropriately. That's the key," said Dr. Richard Ruffalo, an anesthesiologist who testified for the prosecution.

Murray's behavior before and after Jackson stopped breathing was detailed by household staff and paramedics. It was backed up with phone records, e-mails and most importantly, a transcript of Murray's nearly three-hour interview with police.

Legal experts say Murray has a tough fight ahead of him if he truly believes he is not guilty.

Criminal defense attorney Steve Cron told the AP that Murray's defense team must answer critical questions about the doctor's actions, including why he delayed calling 911 and why he failed to tell medics he had given propofol. "All these are little bits of evidence," said Cron. "None of them alone caused his death, but all together they may have."

Jackson's family and friends are understandably eager to seek justice in the singer's death. Longtime friend Rabbi Shmuley Boteach told PopEater that Murray needs to pay for his inaction.

"Here is a doctor, who essentially acted as a pusher, now denying any and all responsibility for dispensing to Michael a truckload of prescription drugs that eventually killed him," the rabbi told us. "Bodyguards have already testified that as emergency workers came to try to save Michael's life, Murray was gathering bottles of pills and removing them from the scene of the tragedy."

Tags: conrad murray, michael jackson

Comments

(27)

Tuesday 25 January

By ao2bd

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Katherine Jackson and her son Randy were among family members that attended the arraignment hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court.
I love reading this , So does My boyfriend .he is almost 11year older than me .i met him via age'lessmate.c'om a nice place for seeking age le ss love.which gives you a chance to make your life better and open opportunities for you to meet the attractive young girls and treat you like a king. Maybe you wanna check it out or tell your friends..

By martin

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Funny, your a man on other posts today!!!

By BTDT

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This man belongs in prison. For a long time.

By tony

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he didnt hold a gun to jackos head and force him to take drugs,if the dr. wouldnt give him drugs someone else would,nuff said.

By sheli

The doctor should not be guilty. What Michael Jackson wanted, MJ got. If this dr would not have done it, then MJ would have found someone to give him his meds. MJ, your body could only take so much at a time. R I P

Good luck Dr.Murray, you are in our thoughts for the right decision.

By judy warren

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your right Tony he ways of getting the meds so don!t blame the doctor theres enough to go around

By cleogirlbird

Even if found guilty,there is the possibility that Murray gets only probation.Probation is not enough.

Wednesday 26 January

By Tell It Like It Is

sheli, my ONLY thoughts w/ respect 2 quack, is 2 jail him, or put him where he put world's beloved superstar.

By RAS

Murray was an enabler and did not follow proper procedures..that can not go unpunished but MJ is the most guilty one in his demise. His family needs to look at themselves in the mirror also..they certainly did not do anything to help..they just had their hands outstreached for money. MJ was an addict and he would have got and overdosed on the drugs that killed him from this doctor or another.

By Richard Ott

4 years in prison is not enough for Dr. Conrad Murray.
He deserves either life in prison, or the death penalty,
and that's the trut', the whole trut', and nothing but the trut'!
He ultimatly killed Michael Jackson, and he's NOT GUILTY?!?

By page

If this user IDIOT would just plead guilty and quit wasting the tax payers money maybe I would have about a quarter of an inch of respect for him.

By victory

What Dr. Murray is guilty of is the allure of treating a superstar. Michael Jackson was in search of a Dr. any Dr. willing to provide him w/ prophofol, (excuse the spelling) OR use only sleeping aid, throw in a steady cash flow for Dr. Murray. Done deal. It's really a muddy water case. Dr. Murray will be punished for providing the drugs and mis-handling his patient while under his care. Sad situation. Michael would have ended up dead in any case.

By MJking Ofpop

He violated the oath he took as a doctor . He admitted he never did CPR before . He did'nt have the heart and lung equipment on hand to keep MJ alive . The man is a muderer. He should go to jail for a long time .

By mandy

I have to agree with many others here, at what point do people like M Jackson start getting the blame for what they do? Just like H Ledger, gets whatever they want because they can buy people off, then when something tragic happens, these people are made out to be oh so innocent. MJ's family is to blame also, I am so sure they knew he was a big time drug addict, but why say anything when he was (is) their "gravy train". Just as bad as his mother trying to be so protective of his kids and image, why did she not protect him from his own father??

By Ed

Enough Jacksom Already.

By Barbara

Yes, Ed.....and enough of Anna Nicole also!

By lisa green

anna nicole-she hasnt been in the news in forever & the list is much longer than TWO

"Forever Michael". Our "Best Of Joy".

By cheryl martin

Do you really think Michael was coherent to be ble to give himself more profofol to himself??[GIVE ME A BREAK]IF Dr. Murray were gone for only two minutes like he claims he was;he would have caught Michael doing this??Dr. Murray never said that ever happened!!!This DOCTOR should never be allowed to practice ever again!!!!!!!!!He was resposible for Michaels safety and should have tod him NO.The fact that had Dr Murray not given Michael the profofol he might have got someone else to give it to him--Has no point in this lawsuit????The point IS Michael WAS alive AND now he is DEAD!!!!!!!!HE NEGLECTED HIS CLIENT-AND KILLED HIM..JAIL isn't good enough for him..TAKE THE PROFOFOL YOU GAVE michael;see how it feels to be euthenized...............like an animal!!!!!!!!!!!

By Mike

The man is a hero. He saved untold kids from being molested.

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