The final day of witness testimony in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray wrapped on Oct. 28 and as expected, Murray’s defense closed their case with a bang. After a week of trying to redeem the reputation of Murray, who is accused of killing pop icon Michael Jackson with excessive propofol injections, the defense’s final character witness testified on Friday, saying that he believes Jackson killed himself by self-injecting a fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic.
According to CBS News, Dr. Paul White, an anesthesia expert, challenged the prosecution’s theory that Murray injected Jackson with propofol through an IV before his death, claiming that evidence found Jackson’s bedroom of his L.A. mansion or in Murray’s statement to the police doesn’t support that theory.
Instead, White said that the evidence supports the theory that Jackson received an injection of propofol.
During the prosecution’s case, expert witness Dr. Steven Shafer testified that he believed Murray used an IV drip to infuse the singer with propofol, saying that was the only way to explain the high levels of the anesthetic inJ ackson’s body.
White also challenged earlier testimony from the prosecution’s experts about the amount of the sedative lorazepam that Jackson received, which the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office claimed played a contributing role in the King of Pop’s death. According to MTV News, White told jurors that Jackson could have eight tablets of the sedative on the morning of his death without Murray’s knowledge.
Earlier testimony theorized that Jackson would have had to receive numerous injections of lorazepam to reach the levels of the sedative found in his blood after his death.
Cross-examination of White will occur later today when the prosecution, who over the last four weeks set out to prove Murray a reckless, greedy and negligent physician, will no doubt challenge White’s theories. –nicholas robinson
