Experts Weigh In on Michael’s Death Case

Police are currently searching for evidence to prove one of the crimes of involuntary manslaughter—such as prescribing excessive medication, prescribing for someone with an addiction, and non-professional conduct—against Conrad Murray or other doctors.

In these documents, Michael is described as an addicted person because police believe he had been using painkillers for a long time.

During the search of Conrad Murray’s office and home, police found drugs that did not include propofol. The coroner’s office suspects that an overdose of the anesthetic propofol led to cardiac arrest and Michael’s death. Previously, it had been announced in the news that the toxicology results for Michael’s body would be ready next week, but according to the latest reports, the announcement of these results will most likely be delayed again.

Joshua Perper, the doctor who had conducted the toxicology on Anna Nicole (the model and actress who died from an overdose of drugs), said that propofol does not remain in the blood for more than a few minutes, and that the coroner’s office likely found other drugs in Michael’s body, but it cannot determine for sure which one caused his death. He says the delay in announcing Michael’s toxicology test results is also due to this.

Daویتز, the special homicide prosecutor, says police have the documents and sufficient reasons to justify searching Murray’s home and office. It has been said that many doctors prescribed and injected painkillers for Michael, but if the final prescription was made by Conrad Murray, then the main charge—second-degree murder—would apply to him, even though the police search warrant lists involuntary manslaughter. Perper says it is customary that in police search warrants, a lighter charge is mentioned. Under California law, if a doctor ignores the condition of his patient’s state of consciousness, he faces a charge of second-degree murder even if it was not intentional.

Perper says that if proven, Conrad Murray is responsible for Michael’s death, even if he claims that Michael asked for the drugs himself: “This man is a licensed physician within a certain framework. He will be held responsible, even if Michael Jackson himself also voluntarily participated in this process. If it is proven that the drug was the cause of death, then we will be facing a serious criminal case.”

Although Dr. Murray has accepted that he injected propofol into Michael the night before, his lawyer continues to insist that his client did not prescribe any drug that could have been the cause of death for the pop icon.

Professor Robert Kane, a medical expert and member of the scientific board of the California medical department, says that if it is confirmed that Dr. Murray’s injection of propofol was the cause of Michael’s death, then a murder charge would be brought against him. He explains that if other doctors also gave Michael drugs, responsibility would fall on the person who was his personal doctor. “What are a doctor’s duties? To recognize his patient’s illnesses and know what condition the patient is in. Not knowing is not a good excuse.”

But defense attorney and former New York prosecutor Sam Goldber g says that the delay in announcing Michael’s toxicology results might mean that bringing charges against Conrad Murray may not be as easy and straightforward as it seems. The reason for the delay might be that police did not reach the result they expected and were faced with more questions. They want to act very cautiously because the fate of this case is tied to the toxicology results.”

He believes that with the toxicology results not being precise, Murray’s charges could be weakened.

But Goldberg’s final point cannot be ignored: “We should also expect unexpected events. Michael Jackson was always mysterious and always unpredictable throughout his life. And it’s upsetting that his death has been the same way.”

However, the murder charge is not the only problem for Conrad Murray. Evidence suggests that last year, when he started working as Michael’s personal doctor, he was drowning in debt and needed money. Conrad Murray does not have a good financial record. His house is currently held as collateral by a bank and he may lose it. Murray had been hired by Michael starting in May to care for him during rehearsals and the London concerts, but AEG says that before Michael’s death, he had not yet signed Murray’s contract, and therefore neither Michael nor the company owes this doctor any money.

Source: eMJey / ABC / Fox News / AP