The trial of Conrad Murray has now entered day 20. The final defence witness, Dr Paul White, continues his testimony. As he entered court Michael Flanagan, part of Murray’s defence team, stated this was "the most important day of the trial.”
Dr White
Dr White’s testimony today was full of technical medical descriptions and demonstrations relating to the effect of sedatives. Dr White started off by discussing the ‘depth’ of sedation and the physiological effect this has on the patient. White explained there are 4 levels of sedation, from minimal sedation to general anaesthetic. At each different level of sedation different physiological changes occur. Dr White states that Michael Jackson would have been in a minimal amount of sedation from the 25 mg of Propofol that Dr Murray told police he had administered. Please note that the toxicology report found significantly higher levels of Propofol than this.
Not only were the levels of Propofol far higher than what Murray told police, the levels of Lorazepam were also greater. Dr White stated this could be due to traces of Lorazepam that Michael had ingested orally in the days beforehand that were still in his system. The prosecution objected this as there was no evidence that Jackson had taken any Lorazepam orally.
Dr White then spoke about the simulations that Dr Shafer had shown in court, which were to show how he believed the levels of drugs in Jackson were achieved. Dr White tried to disprove all of Dr Shafer’s scenarios. Instead Dr White believes that Michael Jackson gave himself a fatal dose of Propofol.
Infusion
Dr Shafer’s main scenario was that Dr Murray infused Propofol into Michael Jackson via an IV drip. Dr White testified that he did not believe this theory, as no infusion set-up was found at Jackson’s house. Dr White told the court "I was somewhat perplexed at how a determination has been made that Dr Murray was infusing Propofol...it wasn't obvious to me."
White also stated that the levels of Propofol in Michael’s body were inconsistent with that of an infusion (based on the urine samples).
Dr White told the court he does not believe that Murray had put a bottle of Propofol into a saline bag, even though two witnesses have testified that they saw this. Dr White does not believe this to be true as no residue of Propofol was found in the saline bag or the upper part of the IV line. He also thought it would be unusual to create this set up as Propofol bottles have clips so they can be easily suspended from an IV rig. When speaking about the proposed set up Dr White stated "it's befuddling to me...why would you go to all the hassle?"
Lorazepam tablets
The other key drug that is being discussed in this case is Lorazepam. In Dr Shafer’s testimony he stated he believed that Dr Murray had given Michael Jackson at least nine 4 mg injections of Lorazepam through the morning of the 25th June 2009. Dr White disagreed with this stating that these quantities were “enormous” and would certainly put anybody to sleep, if not kill them.
Dr White then said he believed it was more likely that Jackson took eight pills of Lorazepam throughout the morning (probably taking two or three at a time). He stated Jackson did this on his own accord after Murray had already given him Propofol.
This combination is what killed Jackson, according to Dr White.
White went on to discuss the traces of Lorazepam that were found in Jackson’s stomach. He stated that there were only small traces found as the drug had been quickly absorbed by the digestive system. Dr White then made an important point by stating if the Lorazepam had been given intravenously then there would have been no traces at all in Jackson’s stomach.
Michael Jackson killed himself
Dr White told the court there was no evidence that Conrad Murray had Michael Jackson on an IV drip to administer Propofol. According to the evidence he has seen Dr White believes Murray gave a small, non-fatal dose of Propofol. From the evidence recovered at the scene he believes this dose was given via injection.
Dr White testified that he believed that at around 11.30AM Michael Jackson somehow gave himself a fatal dose of Propofol. Combined with the Lorazepam that Murray had given Michael earlier this killed Jackson.
Dr White believes that this is the only theory that is supported by the interview Murray gave police and the evidence from Jackson’s house.
As a side note
Some other important points that were raised in today’s testimonies included that Murray had stated in his police interview that he had previously used an IV to administer Propofol to Jackson.
Flanagan also addressed the “elephant in the room” and asked Dr White whether he could justify administering Propofol to a patient and then leaving the room. White replied “absolutely not.”
The court adjourned early. Cross-examination of Dr White will begin on Monday.
Summery
This was probably the most important testimony of the whole trial and it certainly did shake the whole case up. Dr White gave detailed reasons for why he believes Dr Shafer’s scenarios to be wrong. It was also very important that Dr White stated that there was no evidence that Propofol was administered intravenously to Jackson. Neither the equipment, nor residue in the used equipment, was present. This will certainly give the jury something to think about.
Dr White was also the first witnesses to testify that he believed Michael gave himself the fatal dose; this is the statement the whole of the defence’s argument is based on.
It is interesting that for the whole case Murray was certainly culpable and it has come down to the wire for any testimonies to have any real sway. But the question is will the juries mind be changed by this testimony?
Lest we forget that the prosecution aim to state that Murray was negligent and did not react appropriately to the situation. Even if Jackson did administer the fatal shot himself Murray could still be held accountable for negligence as he had left Michael alone, and unmonitored, long enough for Jackson to do so. There were also a lot of inappropriate actions in the way that Murray responded. He did not call help immediately, he did not give all the information he had to medical staff and he lied in his police interview.
I
I think it was very clever for the defence to leave Dr White until last as his testimony will be the most fresh in their minds and this could lead them to be more influenced by this account.
“Mr Lorazepam”
Even on this most vital day the defence still showed how shoddy they were. Three times they got Dr White’s name wrong, who is their witness.
And also by a slip of tongue did the defence refer to Jackson as “Mr Lorazepam”. This is highly inappropriate and was something that Judge Pastor picked them up on.
Something I found insightful is that Dr White is a paid witness. I am sure this is something that the prosecution will want to discuss during cross-examination. The prosecution’s Propofol expert, Dr Shafer, received no monies for his testimony. Whether this will have any influence on Dr White’s testimony is to be seen.
The trial is now drawing to a close. On Monday Dr White will be cross-examined. The cross-examination will probably the most critical and dramatic day of the trial so far. As he is the last witness once his testimony is complete the prosecution and defence will then present their closing statements. It will then be up to the jury to deliberate the verdict. A verdict could be reached next week.
The trial continues on Monday.
Sophie Dewing
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