Murray Covered His Tracks in Jackson's Death

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright October 1, 2011
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           Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney David Walgren honed in on testimony from Michael Jackson’s personal bodyguard Alberto Alvarez who was instructed by Dr. Conrad Murray to place vials of propfol and an IV bag into a bag shortly after observing the pop singer lifeless in his bed.  Prosecutors believe that Murray’s attempt to conceal propofol vials shows his guilt, just the same way he disappeared from the public radar for some 24-36 hours following Jackson’s death.  “Don’t let them see their Dad like this,”  Murray told Alvarez shortly after observing Jackson’s lifeless body.  Walgren tried to show jurors that Murray participated in a cover-up shortly after finding the pop singer dead in the morning of June 25, 2009.  Prosecutors tried to show that Murray was negligent trying to resuscitate Jackson when he should have called 911 and gotten professional help.

            Sometime in the morning of June 25, Murray noticed that Jackson’s two children, oldest son Prince and daughter Paris, screamed when they say their father lifeless on his bed.  Murray abruptly instructed Alvarez to remove the children from the room and pick up vials of propofol and the IV bag.  Alvarez admitted to calling the Los Angeles County paramedics who arrived at the scene minutes later.  When paramedics Martin Blunt and Richard Senneff arrived at the scene, they asked Murray about Jackson’s condition.  He failed to inform them about his propofol drip, denying that Jackson had any known medical condition, despite looking emaciated.  Both paramedics testified that Murray mentioned nothing about giving Jackson propofol, a sign that he had something to hide.  As the expert witness testimony proceeds, jurors will hear how utterly unacceptable and outrageous Murray’s medical care.

            To convict Murray of involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors have to show not that Murray was incompetent but that his diabolical medical treatment caused Jackson’s death.  However inept at administering CPR, however negligent in calling 911 and however incompetent as a physician doe not qualify as involuntary manslaughter.  Prosecutors need only show that there’s no medical precedent for treating insomnia with operating room anesthesia.  When jurors heard that Murray instructed Alvarez to bag-up propofol vials and IV equipment, it creates only one inference:  That Murray wanted to clean up the crime scene.  Removing evidence from a crime scene—like flight—is evidence of guilt. Murray’s refusal to tell paramedics at the scene Jackson’s true condition or what drugs had been administered tells jurors that the doctor was trying to cover his tracks.

            Establishing delays between the time Murray found Jackson not breathing and when he called paramedics establishes Murray’s incompetence but doesn’t qualify as criminal negligence.  When the jury tries to fit objective standards that cross the line between medical malpractice and criminal negligence, they need more than a time line of incompetent medical management.  Whether prosecutors show phone records proving Murray was on his cell phone while he should have been either contacting paramedics or administering CPR also doesn’t establish criminal negligence.  Murray’s criminal negligence begins and ends with his decision to concoct an insomnia machine without any medical precedent.  Whether or not the defense argues that Jackson administered the lethal dose to himself, Murray is still criminally responsible for Jackson’s death for reckless negligence.

             Evidence that Murray didn’t want paramedics to know about his maniacal insomnia-busting machine proves that he knew he had crossed the line.  Had Murray treated Jackson with an overdose of sleeping medications, whether orally or through an IV, he wouldn’t be criminally negligent because sleep-inducing drugs are conventional medical treatments for insomnia.  Murray’s defense team insists that the doctor only waited 10 minutes between finding Jackson lifeless and calling paramedics.  While phone records won’t show when Jackson stopped breathing, they certainly show Murray calling someone other than paramedics.  Disputing Murray’s account with respect to time lines, Senneff testified that Jackson was “cold to the touch,” a sign that his blood had stopped circulating for some time before paramedics arrived at the scene.  Murray’s defense team wants to blame Jackson’s support staff.

             Testimony about time lines or what was or wasn’t done to save Jackson’s life in the morning of June 25, 2009 doesn’t stop the fact that Murray’s self-concocted insomnia machine caused the 50-year-old pop music icon’s death.  Arguing that Jackson administered a lethal dose of propofol to himself rings a bit hollow when Senneff testified that Murray denied any such treatment.  “No, he’s not taking anything,” said Murray, when questioned by Senneff when he arrived in Jackson’s bedroom.  “I just gave him a little lorazepam [trade-named “Ativan”] to help him sleep,” reveals that Murray knew that his insomnia machine was beyond the pale of acceptable medical treatment.  All the testimony about time lines and Murray’s incompetence doesn’t cross the line into criminal negligence.  Murray’s reckless use of operating room anesthesia to treat insomnia crossed the criminal line.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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