standing-room-only arraignment attended by Jackson’s parents and
several siblings.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge
— three times the standard for involuntary manslaughter cases. The
judge also forbade Murray from prescribing heavy sedatives, including
propofol, to his patients.
“I don’t want you sedating people,” the judge told Murray.
Murray, dressed in a light gray suit, remained
silent throughout the hearing, other than to answer “yes” in a soft
voice several times when the judge asked if he understood the terms of
his bail and the rights he waived. At the conclusion of the hearing,
Murray was taken into custody by sheriff’s deputies and escorted from
the courtroom.
Earlier Monday, prosecutors charged Murray with
involuntary manslaughter in connection with administering a combination
of surgical anesthetic and sedatives blamed in the music legend’s death
last summer.
In the last hours of his life, Jackson was given a
powerful anesthetic — propofol — at a level equivalent to what would be
used in “major surgery” and in a manner that did not live up to medical
standards, according to the singer’s autopsy report released by the
The complaint filed by the county district attorney’s office alleges that Murray “did unlawfully and without malice kill
a human being, in the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a
felony; and in the commission of a lawful act which might have produced
death, in an unlawful manner, and without due caution and
circumspection.”
Jackson’s parents,
In a news release, the district attorney’s office said Deputy District Attorney
a prosecutor in the major crimes division, would try the case. Walgren
also is handling the attempt to extradite movie director
The release credited the Los Angeles Police
Department and the county coroner’s office for building the case
against Murray. “Both agencies worked diligently and exhaustively to
collect the evidence leading to the filing of the case,” the statement
said.
Murray walked into the courthouse at
to shouts of “murderer” from a handful of Jackson fans whose presence
was dwarfed by an international contingent of media that began camping
out at the courthouse last week.
The criminal case comes after a seven-month investigation that stretched from the master bedroom of Jackson’s rented
Within weeks of Jackson’s death, detectives
described the doctor as a manslaughter suspect in court papers that
said he admitted leaving the singer alone and under the influence of
propofol — used to render surgical patients unconscious — in a bedroom
of the sprawling home.
The coroner’s office ruled Jackson’s death a
homicide and said the cause was “acute propofol intoxication” in
conjunction with the effect of other sedatives Murray acknowledged
providing.
Despite the almost immediate focus on Murray —
authorities first questioned him in the hospital where doctors were
working in vain to revive Jackson — the multiagency investigation that
included federal and local investigators progressed slowly, and the
doctor was not formally accused of wrongdoing until the district
attorney’s office filed its complaint.
Involuntary manslaughter is the least serious
homicide charge available to prosecutors, its maximum punishment of
four years in prison far less than the life sentence for murder or the
11 years for voluntary manslaughter. The charge, which applies to an
unlawful killing committed without malice or intent to kill, turns on
Murray’s possible negligence in allegedly giving Jackson propofol for
an unapproved purpose — the treatment of insomnia — and outside the
normal operating-room setting.
The drug, one of the most widely used general
anesthetics in the nation, is so dangerous that the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration says only those trained in anesthesia should administer
it.
Murray told police that he had been giving Jackson
nightly intravenous doses of propofol for six weeks, about the time he
began working for the performer, according to police affidavits filed
in court. Murray, who was in debt and behind on child support payments,
earned
According to the affidavits, Jackson told the
physician that for years other doctors had treated his chronic insomnia
with doses of propofol, a white liquid the singer called “milk.”
Murray eventually became concerned that the singer
was addicted and tried to wean him off the anesthetic, according to the
affidavits. The day Jackson died, Murray had tried to get the performer
to sleep using Valium and, later, two other sedatives, according to the
affidavits. But Jackson remained awake for 10 hours, demanding propofol.
According to the affidavits, Murray said he relented
and sat next to Jackson’s bed as the propofol took effect. He told
police he left for two minutes to use the restroom, and cell phone
records indicate he also talked on the phone for 45 minutes, according
to the affidavits. When he returned, Jackson was not breathing.
Through his attorney, Murray has maintained his
innocence and said he did nothing that should have caused Jackson’s
death. In his only public comment — a one-minute video released in
August through his lawyer — a somber-looking Murray expressed
confidence that he would be exonerated.
“I told the truth, and I have faith the truth will prevail,” he said.
—
(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.
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