Dr. Conrad Murray’s lawyer announced that the physician is dropping the argument that Michael Jackson accidentally killed himself by ingesting Propofol orally. What they’re not doing is dropping the argument that he self-administered the anesthetic in general. In fact, the defense still will claim that MJ killed himself . Murray’s attorneys say they have concluded Jackson could not have chugged Propofol , however, and will now argue only that he injected it intravenously. According to TMZ, attorney Michael Flanagan said in court today that a new study by the defense showed swallowing Propofol would not produce fatal results. The Associated Press initially reported that Murray’s lawyers ditched the idea that MJ self-administered the fatal dose in any way, but that is not accurate. Lead lawyer Ed Chernoff can and very likely will argue that MJ injected a fatal dose after awakening and becoming frustrated with Murray out of the room. Of course, that’s still a claim they may struggle to sell a jury on, and medical experts say that even if it happened, Murray would be responsible regardless . Not looking good for the doc so far, but his defense has yet to present its case. They’re going to need to pull a legal rabbit out of their hat on this one. Your take: Dr. Conrad Murray … [Photos: WENN.com]
Co-hosts of political podcast ‘Citizen Radio’ talk to MTV News about their Talib Kweli connection and why the movement is more than a march. By Amanda Sprecher Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images On Monday, Kanye West and Russell Simmons stopped by to show support for the Occupy Wall Street protesters. But they weren’t the first hip-hop celebs to lend their time to the cause. Last week, Talib Kweli also made a surprise appearance, which included a performance of his new song “Distractions.” Can’t get to New York City? Take our guided tour of the Occupy Wall Street headquarters. And it was two of the forces behind the podcast “Citizen Radio” who were responsible for bringing Kweli to New York’s Zuccotti Park, where the activists have set up camp for nearly a month. Shortly before the Brooklyn rapper’s performance, MTV News caught up with Jamie Kilstein and Allison Kilkenny , co-hosts of the free and independent podcast. Kilstein, a political comedian, performed two charged stand-up pieces for the Occupy Wall Street assembly before introducing Talib as his surprise guest. “I know a lot of these kids are bored,” Kilstein told us. “So I thought I would perform. And then I was like, ‘Well, a lot of people don’t know who I am, so what if I call all my famous friends?’ and Talib was like the first one who signed on.” The duo have done more than just entertain the young protesters, however. They’ve also been covering the Occupy movement from the start. Kilkenny, a reporter for The Nation, has been there since day one. “It was supposed to be a march but day by day, I’ve been more impressed by how it’s grown and how it’s become much more diverse. It’s not just white, wealthy college students, it’s kids who have been buried in student loans. It’s people who have lost their jobs; it’s union members, you know, nurses, teachers. So it’s really becoming a force to be reckoned with.” Citizen Radio has been interviewing and broadcasting directly from the Occupy site in downtown Manhattan, talking to a broad spectrum of supporters, from nurses, teachers and electricians. As the movement spreads beyond Wall Street to spots around the country, increased media attention has followed, but the Citizen Radio hosts said their mission is to spotlight what they see as the most important aspects, including the diversity, the cooperation and the level of organization. Kilstein said some journalists have mistakenly played up a freak-show aspect of the rallies. “A lot of the mainstream media, what they’re doing is they go there and they find the craziest person they can that may not even be a part of it.” Still, Kilstein and Kilkenny are careful to keep a good sense of humor about the Occupy movement. That approach has earned them new followers, including Kweli, Sarah Silveman, Robin Williams and Noam Chomsky. “Liberals talk a lot of sh–,” Kilstein joked. “We’re really good at going to a bar and being like, ‘We got to take down the man, and here’s what we’re going to do! Not tomorrow, because I’ll be hung-over, and probably not the next day because we’re going to go out drinking again, but one day, we’ll get ’em.’ This was people finally putting it all on the line.” Share your thoughts on the Occupy Wall Street movement in our comments section! Related Videos Inside Occupy Wall Street
Image shown during Dr. Conrad Murray’s involuntary manslaughter trial was taken moments after MJ was pronounced dead. By Gil Kaufman Conrad Murray Photo: Pool/ Getty Images The involuntary manslaughter trial of former Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray got under way again Tuesday (October 11), when the jury viewed photos from Jackson’s autopsy for the first time and heard more testimony from the lead police investigator in the case, the rest of a taped interview Murray gave to investigators two days after the singer’s death, and potentially damaging testimony from L.A. County medical examiner Dr. Christopher Rogers who pronounced Jackson’s death a homicide. Among the highlights of Tuesday’s testimony:
In an interview just after Michael Jackson died, Dr. Conrad Murray told police he had no clue what medications the star had been prescribed by other physicians. Murray also says Jackson never told him he was seeing other doctors – a clue as to how he may present a defense at his ongoing involuntary manslaughter trial. Two days after Jackson’s death, Murray cited Dr. Arnold Klein , a longtime friend of Michael, as a doctor who regularly prescribed MJ drugs behind Murray’s back. Murray, by his own admission, knew this was going on. But to what degree? According to Murray, MJ’s production team complained about the singer’s visits to Klein – insisting Michael’s worst days on set were after he had seen Klein. Those worst days, Dr. Conrad Murray claims, were three times a week. During the taped interview , Murray told police, “When [he] came back [from Klein’s office], he was basically wasted and required 24 hours for recovery.” Murray also claims he saw evidence of doctor-shopping by Jackson – a smattering of prescription pill bottles by his bedside, bearing other doctors’ names. Michael never spoke about it, Murray says. Whether that matters to a jury is unclear, but Murray is trying to say he didn’t know how bad MJ’s condition was. Judge Michael Pastor has already ruled that Klein cannot testify . [Photo: WENN.com]
“I’d like to have some milk. Please, please give me some.” This request from Michael Jackson was eerily rehashed in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray Friday. Of course, it wasn’t really milk he wanted. That was MJ’s name for thee powerful anesthetic Propofol, which he received via IV, and the one substance he believed offered what he desperately craved: sleep. Dr. Conrad Murray relayed to detectives details of Jackson’s last hours in a taped police interview played to jurors. The interview took place two days after MJ died. Murray conceded that he’d been giving Jackson Propofol almost every day, though he claims only a very small dose (25 mg) was given in the pop icon’s last days. As Jackson struggled to sleep, Murray says he urged the pop star to just close his eyes and meditate, but that seemed to work for only a few minutes at a time. Perhaps because of energy supplements Jackson was taking from another doctor, Propofol “was the only thing that worked for him,” Murray says in the recording. “I constantly cautioned him that it was an artificially induced sleep and he needed to go back to a natural pattern” and “be on your own, with milk and cookies.” Medical professionals have testified that it is unheard of to administer Propofol in somebody’s bedroom. It is normally used as an anesthetic during surgery. Murray told detectives that MJ insisted it was crucial he get enough sleep because he was rehearsing for his “This Is It” concert tour that was only days away. “He complained, he was going to have to cancel the (rehearsal and possibly the tour),” Murray says . “It would not satisfy his fans if he wasn’t rested well.” “I’m trying to do it the best I can and I’m trying to get help,” Murray says. Murray says he stepped away very briefly to go to the bathroom on June 25, 2009, and when he came back, the King of Pop had stopped breathing. He says CPR was unsuccessful, so he called 911 . He says paramedics were unable to revive Jackson, so he had him transferred to UCLA Medical Center, where doctors tried for an hour to revive him. “I love Mr. Jackson, he was my friend and he opened up to me in different ways and I wanted to help him as much as I can,” Murray told the detectives. “I was trying to wean him off the Propofol.” Defense attorneys have made the controversial assertion that Michael Jackson himself took the fatal dose of drugs that morning when Murray left the room. Murray’s girlfriends, including Sade Anding and Nicole Alvarez , have cast doubt on that theory given their timeline of phone calls made that day, though.
Recording of Conrad Murray’s interview with police two days after Jackson’s death was played in court Friday (October 7). By Gil Kaufman Elissa Fleak Photo: Pool/ Getty Images After a day in which the defense attorney for Dr. Conrad Murray went on the offensive against a key prosecution witness in the physician’s involuntary manslaughter trial, the focus on Friday (October 7) turned to a recording of the doctor’s account of his actions while tending to Michael Jackson on the day the pop icon died. During Thursday’s proceedings, attorney Ed Chernoff accused lead coroner’s office investigator Elissa Fleak of sloppy work in her investigation of Jackson’s death. Chernoff suggested that Fleak made a number of mistakes, including leaving her fingerprint on a syringe found on Jackson’s nightstand. In a sometimes heated exchange, Chernoff hammered Fleak about changes she made earlier this year to her report on Jackson’s death, suggesting that they were intended to corroborate the testimony of key prosecution witness Alberto Alvarez, who has claimed that he helped Murray gather up medical evidence at the crime scene, according to the Los Angeles Times . Toxicologist Dan Anderson also noted that trace amounts — equal to a few drops — of the surgical anesthetic propofol were found in Jackson’s stomach. Murray’s defense team has been trying to bolster their theory that Jackson fatally injected or ingested propofol himself. Friday’s highlights included:
Three of Dr. Conrad Murray’s former girlfriends take the stand Tuesday. By Gil Kaufman Nicole Alvarez Photo: Pool/ Getty Images Prosecutors in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson ‘s physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, called one of the cardiologist’s girlfriends to the stand Tuesday (October 4) in an attempt to nail down what Murray was doing as his famous client was dying of cardiac arrest. Houston, Texas, steakhouse waitress Sade Anding told the jury that six minutes into a phone call with Murray on June 25, 2009, Murray suddenly disappeared as she was telling him about her day. “I realized he was no longer on the phone,” she said of the call that took place less than a half-hour before Murray placed a frantic call to Jackson’s assistant asking for help. At one point, she described hearing coughing, mumbling and other voices on Murray’s end, as if his phone was in his pocket. The call was one of a half-dozen that phone records show Murray made during a crucial time when prosecutors say he should have been monitoring Jackson’s vital signs closely. Other testimony on Tuesday:
‘Mr. Jackson died long before he became a patient,’ Richelle Cooper testifies during Dr. Conrad Murray’s manslaughter trial. By Gil Kaufman Dr. Richelle Cooper testifies at Conrad Murray’s involuntary manslaughter trial Photo: Pool/ Getty Images By the time Michael Jackson was delivered by ambulance to the UCLA Medical Center’s emergency room, he was already dead. That was the testimony the jury heard Monday (October 3) as the second week of the manslaughter trial of the late pop icon’s physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, got under way. “Mr. Jackson died long before he became a patient,” said emergency room doctor Richelle Cooper in testimony continued from Friday. Other highlights of Monday’s testimony:
Michael Jackson’s security guard Alberto Alvarez testified in Dr. Conrad Murray’s involuntary manslaughter trial today, recalling that fateful day in 2009. Alvarez was the one who called 911 after Jackson’s vital signs fell. The 911 call is included below. But his testimony delved into much more than that. Murray asked Alberto Alvarez to remove several vials of Propofol before he called an ambulance on June 25, 2009, according to the witness’ tesitmony. Michael Jackson 911 Call Alvarez claims he quickly arrived at the scene and saw Murray performing one-handed chest compressions on Michael Jackson, who was still in the bed. According to Alvarez, Murray immediately asked him to pack up several vials and an IV bag – one that contained a vial with a “milky white substance.” Murray THEN asked Alvarez to call 911, at which point the dispatcher ordered him to move the singer from the bed to the floor in order to perform CPR. According to Alvarez, paramedics arrived soon after. He was grilled on the timeline of these key events by Murray’s lawyer, but he remained steadfast. Murray’s defense hinges on the theory that Michael Jackson killed himself with a lethal dose of Propofol while the physician was (briefly) out of the room. They have to try something. Your take? Dr. Conrad Murray is …
Both describe Dr. Conrad Murray as panicked on the day of MJ’s death. By Kara Warner Michael Jackson’s bodyguard Alberto Alvarez testifies in court on September 29 Photo: Getty Images The third day of testimony in the manslaughter trial against former Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray once again featured former members of Jackson’s staff, bodyguard Alberto Alvarez and chef Kai Chase. Alvarez took the stand first Thursday (September 29) to describe his arrival on the scene. He claimed when he entered the room, he saw Murray performing chest compressions on Jackson with one hand, and that when Murray heard Alvarez enter, he made the frantic request for Alvarez to remove several vials of propofol — the potent anesthetic that was part of the official cause of Jackson’s death — from the room before he called for an ambulance. Jackson’s former personal chef was next to testify. After going through a list of the food items she prepared regularly for MJ and his children, mostly healthy meals like granola with almond milk and juice blends, Chase revealed that on the day of Jackson’s death, she was in the middle of preparing his lunch when a worried and panic-stricken Murray burst into the kitchen and shouted for her to “get help, get [son] Prince and get security.” Chase said she “did as she was told” and went into the den to alert Prince and that she did her best to keep the children calm. Testimony is set to resume again Friday at 8:45 a.m. PT. Murray has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and administering the dose of propofol that caused Jackson’s death and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical license if found guilty. Related Photos Michael Jackson: A Life In Photos Related Artists Michael Jackson
