The Michael Jackson Thread

Jackson's Doctor Granted Early Release

London - Dr. Conrad Murray will be released from prison on October 28.

The disgraced doctor has been granted early release and will leave Los Angeles County Jail in three months time, having served less than half of his four-year sentence for the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson.

Murray - who administered the fatal dose of anaesthetic Propofol which killed the King of Pop in June 2009 - was convicted in November 2011 and has spent his sentence in solitary confinement, but with access to a TV and mobile phone.

He has been granted early release for his good conduct behind bars and to ease the burden on the prison system.

A source said: "He has been a model inmate and the authorities have granted him an early release due to that good behaviour and the overcrowded California jail system."

However, the decision to release Murray has infuriated the 'Thriller' star's family, including his children Prince, 16, Paris, 15, and 11-year-old Blanket.

Michael's mother Katherine said: "It is not right I will never be able to see my son again, while his mother can see him."

A source added to the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Murray is the killer of Michael in their eyes. He cost them their son and father.

"For him to get out in two years is an insult. They still feel he should have been tried for murder." - Bang Showbiz

http://www.iol.co.za/tonight/news/i...r-granted-early-release-1.1553941?utm_medium=[%27facebook%27]&utm_source=dlvr.it#.UfYtqm2Cc40
 
Lawyer details interactions with Jackson's Doctor

An attorney who drafted the agreement for Michael Jackson's doctor to work on his ill-fated comeback concerts says she told a tour promoter executive that the physician appeared to be successful.

Kathy Jorrie is an independent attorney who does legal work for AEG Live LLC. She drafted agreements for Conrad Murray to serve as Jackson's doctor on the singer's planned "This Is It" concerts.

Jorrie told a jury on Tuesday that Murray told her he earned more than $1 million a month from his medical practices while negotiating to work on Jackson's "This Is It" shows. Jorrie says she relayed the information to AEG Live's CEO six days before the singer's death.

Jackson's mother is suing AEG Live, claiming it negligently hired Murray.

AEG denies it hired the former cardiologist.


Source : Sapa-AP /ma
Date : 07 Aug 2013 03:13
 
Jackson Doctors competed to treat pop star: Ex-wife

Various doctors were "competing" to treat Michael Jackson, each offering ever-stronger painkillers long before his 2009 death, the King of Pop's ex-wife testified Wednesday.

Debbie Rowe, the 54-year-old mother of Jackson's two older children, told jurors that the singer had a "very low tolerance for pain" and that over the years doctors had prescribed potent drugs like Demerol, Dilaudid, Oxycodone and Vicodin.

"His fear of pain was incredible," Rowe said during the 16th week of the trial, in which Jackson's 83-year-old mother Katherine is suing tour promoter AEG Live.

The family matriarch is the main plaintiff in the multi-million dollar case against AEG Live, which she accuses of negligently retaining doctor Conrad Murray to look after Jackson as he rehearsed in Los Angeles for his "This is It" comeback tour.

Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 over Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, from an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol, administered to help the 50-year-old cope with chronic insomnia.

Rowe, who was married to Jackson from 1996-1999, testified on behalf of AEG, which argues he was secretly addicted to drugs and responsible for his own death.

She said that Jackson's history of chronic pain, and of doctors happily prescribing increasingly powerful drugs, long predated his time with Murray.

Rowe said doctors took advantage of Jackson, prescribing narcotics to treat everything from acne to a burn on his scalp suffered during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in 1983.

Referring to the doctors as "these idiots," Rowe stated: "You don't call someone and say let's take Dilaudid instead of Aspirin."

But Jackson listened to the doctors, Rowe said.

"He foolishly, foolishly trusted people."

Rowe met Jackson when she was working as a nurse for dermatologist Arnold Klein, who was then treating the singer for acne.

Rowe, who now raises horses, said she put together a program before the start of the "Dangerous" tour in 1992 to ease Jackson, for whom she had become a confidante, off the pain medication.

"I took it away and I said 'you're not taking it'," she said.

But she claimed her efforts were ruined by tour doctor David Forecast.

"Forecast was yet another doctor that didn't put him first -- as a patient, as a human being," she alleged.

The doctor was "hurting him, not helping him."

Rowe added that at the time of her amicable divorce from Jackson, she had jokingly told him: "I'm giving you custody of the doctors -- be nice to them."


Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 15 Aug 2013 08:55
 
Judge drops bosses from Jackson death suit

The judge in Michael Jackson's family's lawsuit against promoters AEG Live dismissed Monday claims against two two executives accused over the 2009 death, leaving their firm as sole defendant.

Judge Yvette Palazuelos ruled that Jackson lawyers have not proved claims that AEG Live chief executives Randy Phillips and Paul Gongaware could be held responsible for the singer's death.

The trial, in which the late pop icon's mother Katherine Jackson accuses AEG Live of negligently hiring the doctor convicted over his death, started in April, and could wrap up later this month.

Phillips and Gongaware were named as defendants, along with AEG Live as a company. Both have faced grillings earlier in the trial at the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Monday's decision streamlines the case before the jury, leaving the 12-strong panel to decide only if they thought AEG Live had negligently hired Conrad Murray and failed to supervise him properly.

Murray was jailed for four years in 2011 after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for administering the surgical anesthetic propofol to help Jackson, 50, cope with chronic insomnia.

The self-styled King of Pop died on June 25, 2009 at his rented Holmby Hills mansion, where he was living while rehearsing for the doomed "This is It" series of concerts in London, which was set to be followed by a world tour.

Lawyers for Katherine Jackson, who brought the lawsuit in her name and those of her son's three children, have argued that AEG Live ignored a series of warning signs about the singer's alarmingly failing health.

AEG Live insists that Jackson himself hired Murray as his personal physician, and was therefore responsible for his own medical care.


Source : Sapa-AFP /mm
Date : 09 Sep 2013 23:58
 
Lawyer puts price on Jackson's death at Trial Climax

The promoters of Michael Jackson's doomed last tour should pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to the late pop icon's family over his 2009 death, a lawyer said in closing arguments Tuesday.

In a heartstrings-tugging final presentation wrapping up a five-month trial, attorney Brian Panish urged jurors to award $85 million to each of the star's three children and $35 million to his mother in so-called non-economic damages, such as the loss of love and comfort.

On top of that were economic damages, for which he did not set a figure, but cited analyses suggesting that the self-styled King of Pop could have made around $1.5 billion if he had lived and pursued a comeback world tour.

In the day's most arresting moment, he played a 15-minute video compilation of Jackson's hits, including "Thriller" and the star moonwalking to "Billie Jean," combined with home-movie clips of the singer playing with his children.

"That I think is the best evidence of whether Mr. Jackson could have sold tickets," he said after the extended video, which left some of the dozens of fans in court sobbing and hugging each other.

Panish insisted however he wasn't trying to play on the jury's emotions. "We're not looking for sympathy, we're looking for justice," he told the trial, which moved to a larger 300-person capacity courtroom for its final stage.

Presiding judge Yvette Palazuelos unexpectedly ruled that the final few days of the trial, which started in April, can be televised.

Jackson died on June 25, 2009 from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol at his rented mansion outside Los Angeles, where he was rehearsing for the "This is It" shows at London's 02 Arena. He was 50 years old.

Dr. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in a criminal trial in 2011 for giving the drug to the star -- who suffered from chronic insomnia -- to help him sleep. Murray was jailed for four years.

In the civil trial, the singer's mother Katherine Jackson, 83, alleges that AEG Live negligently hired an inappropriate and incompetent doctor and missed a series of red flags about his failing health in the run-up to his death.

"They chose not to check anything about Dr. Murray's background .. They chose to run the risk, to make a huge profit, and they lost and they're responsible," said Panish.

"AEG wanted the King of Pop in their arena in London. They would do whatever it took to get him on stage... They were so excited about how much money they were going to make," he added.

"They knew what they were getting. Now they want to come in and deny it."

If the jury decides in the Jackson family's favor, Panish suggested the jury split whatever compensation amount they decide on in the ratio of 30 percent for each of the three children, and 10 percent for Jackson's 83-year-old mother Katherine, "because Katherine has a lesser life expectancy."

But he stressed that the jury will make the final decision. "Thats up to you," he said.

AEG Live counters that it did not sign a contract with Murray, and that a promised $150,000 a month for his services would come from an advance it was making to Jackson, meaning effectively that the star hired his own doctor.

The issue of who hired Murray is crucial to the case, and Panish re-played video clips of AEG Live CEO Randy Philips, in which he told Sky News that Murray was "willing to leave his practice for a very large sum of money.

"So we hired him," said Philips, in what could prove decisive in the jurors' decision-making process.

AEG Live's lead lawyer, Marvin Putnam, is due to present his side's closing arguments on Wednesday. Panish will then make final rebuttals on Thursday, before the jury retires to consider its verdict.


Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 25 Sep 2013 11:55
 
Jackson died from his own bad choices: Lawyer

Michael Jackson died because of his own bad choices involving the drug that killed him and the doctor who provided it, not because of anything done by AEG Live, a lawyer for the producer of Jackson's comeback concerts told jurors Wednesday.

Delivering his closing argument in the long-running negligence case by Jackson's family, defense attorney Marvin Putnam said the secretive singer never told the producers that he was using the hospital anesthetic propofol to overcome his chronic insomnia.

If AEG Live had known, it would have pulled the plug on the planned tour, the lawyer said.

"AEG would have never agreed to finance this tour if they knew Mr. Jackson was playing Russian roulette in his bedroom every night," Putnam told jurors.

Putnam also said AEG Live LLC tried to deter Jackson from hiring Dr. Conrad Murray, who was later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in his death, but Jackson "wouldn't take no for an answer."

Only after Jackson's death, he said, did the company learn about the secret propofol treatments by Murray.

"AEG only learned the truth after Mr. Jackson passed," Putnam said. "They heard for the first time what propofol was."

Putnam stressed that it was Jackson, not AEG, who insisted on hiring Murray, a cardiologist who had befriended the pop star in Las Vegas three years earlier. Jackson, who was using him as a family doctor, told AEG that Murray was to be his physician for the "This Is It" shows in London, according to Putnam.

"He didn't ask AEG," the lawyer said. "He said, 'We're using this doctor.' He was a grown man of 50 and as a grown man he is responsible for his own health and his own choices no matter how bad those choices may be."

AEG told Jackson there were great doctors in London but the singer would not be deterred, Putnam said.

"It was his money and he certainly wasn't going to take no for an answer," he said.

Murray was convicted in 2011 after giving Jackson an overdose of propofol on the day he died in 2009. The drug is not meant to be used outside operating rooms.

With Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine, a plaintiff in the suit, seated in a front row, Putnam reminded jurors that she said she wanted to know the truth about her son's demise. But she also testified that she closed her ears when she heard bad things about him, he said.

He accused lawyers for the Jackson family of asking jurors to close their ears to facts surrounding the actions of the singer.

"He made some bad choices that resulted in a horrible tragedy. You can't blame someone else for his bad choices," Putnam said.

A day earlier, a lawyer for Katherine Jackson had portrayed AEG Live executives and Murray as mercenaries who sacrificed the pop star's life in a quest to boost their own fortunes.

Attorney Brian Panish said a $150,000-a-month contract to care for Jackson on tour was a lifeline to help Murray climb out of his financial troubles. He blamed AEG executives for failing to realize Murray was unfit for the job.

"Obviously, he was incompetent and unfit," Panish said. "He caused the death of Michael Jackson."

The courtroom atmosphere was starkly changed Wednesday. Panish had brought Hollywood dazzle, showing professionally produced videos of the superstar's life and home movies of him with his children when they were babies.

Putnam, however, focused his argument solely on the law and the evidence jurors had seen during the five-month trial. He showed emails and excerpts from proposed contracts, arguing that there never was a contract between Murray and AEG.

At one point he showed excerpts from "This is It," the documentary about rehearsals for the London concerts. He pointed out that Jackson appeared in control, performing perfectly on a rendition of "Earth Song."

"And 12 hours later, he was dead," Putnam said.

Judging from the footage, AEG could not have known the singer was receiving nightly doses of propofol from Murray, Putnam said.

A key issue in the negligence suit is whether AEG Live or Michael Jackson hired Murray.

Putnam said if jurors find AEG didn't do the hiring, their work will be done and they need not decide other questions involving damages.


Source : Sapa-AP /mr
Date : 26 Sep 2013 02:52
 
Jury gets lawsuit over Michael Jackson death

A negligence lawsuit by Michael Jackson's mother against his concert promoter is the hands of a jury after a final plea by a Jackson lawyer to punish the company he portrayed as a heartless, money-making machine.

In his argument Thursday, attorney Brian Panish, who represents Katherine Jackson, urged the six women and six men on the jury to find that defendant AEG Live LLC and Jackson shared responsibility for hiring Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician whose treatments killed the superstar.

The jury is expected to resume deliberations later Friday.

Earlier this week, a lawyer for AEG Live suggested the promoter was pressured by Jackson to hire Murray as his personal physician, and was deceived when Jackson and Murray hid the fact that the singer was receiving nightly doses of the anesthetic propofol in his bedroom.

The drug is intended for use during operations at hospitals.

Murray was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter after giving Jackson an overdose of propofol as a sleep aid as Jackson fought chronic insomnia. Murray is in prison.

Jurors were led out of the courtroom by 10 armed sheriff's deputies assigned to guard them during deliberations. They spent two hours behind closed doors and then retired for the day.

Panish used his rebuttal argument Thursday to urge the jury to find that AEG hired Murray without considering whether he was fit for the job. AEG lawyers say it was Jackson who hired the doctor.

In his speech to jurors, Panish suggested they might decide there was shared negligence in hiring Murray.

"Think of a bicycle built for two," he said. "Both can cause the harm."

He did not blame Jackson for seeking propofol and instead cited AEG for hiring the doctor who gave it to him.

"Propofol might not be the best idea," Panish said. "But if you have a competent doctor, you're not going to die."

Panish claimed that AEG executives such as CEO Randy Phillips and co-CEO Paul Gongaware disdained Jackson and reminded jurors of an email in which an AEG attorney referred to Jackson as "the freak."

"They're a money-making machine," Panish said. "All they care about is how much money is this freak going to make for them.

"It's not right, ladies and gentlemen," Panish said. "It would not be right to allow Gongaware and Phillips to skate down the street and click their champagne glasses at AEG Live."

Both executives were initially named as defendants but were dismissed from the case during the trial.

Panish showed jurors details of a contract that was drafted by AEG Live but only signed by Murray. He said it proved that AEG wanted to control the doctor.

The plaintiff's last argument came a day after AEG Live attorney Marvin Putnam told jurors that Jackson was the architect of his own demise and no one else can be blamed. Putnam said Jackson insisted on hiring the cardiologist, despite objections from AEG Live.

The company told Jackson there were great doctors in London but the singer would not be deterred, Putnam said.

"It was his money and he certainly wasn't going to take no for an answer," he said.

Putnam showed brief excerpts from the "This Is It" documentary to show that Jackson appeared in top form just 12 hours before he died.

"AEG Live did not have a crystal ball," he said. "Dr. Murray and Mr. Jackson fooled everyone. They want to blame AEG for something no one saw."

If AEG Live had known about the propofol treatments, it would have pulled the plug on the planned tour, the lawyer said.

"AEG would have never agreed to finance this tour if they knew Mr. Jackson was playing Russian roulette in his bedroom every night," Putnam told jurors.

If jurors find AEG didn't hire Murray, their work will be done quickly and they need not decide four other questions.

A unanimous verdict is not required in the case. Only nine of the 12 jurors must agree.


Source : Sapa-AP /mjs
Date : 27 Sep 2013 13:39
 
i still cant understand propofol ......
 
AEG not liable in Michael Jackson's death, jury finds

A Los Angeles jury decided Wednesday that AEG Live hired Dr. Conrad Murray, but also concluded that the concert promoter was not liable for Michael Jackson's drug overdose death.

The verdict brings the five-month-long trial to a close.
A Los Angeles jury decided Wednesday that AEG Live hired Dr. Conrad Murray, but also concluded that the concert promoter was not liable for Michael Jackson's drug overdose death. The verdict brings the five-month-long trial to a close.
AEG Live lawyers argued they had no way of knowing that Murray -- licensed to practice in four states and never sued for malpractice -- was a risk to Jackson. The singer was a secretive drug addict who kept even his closest relatives in the dark about his use of propofol to sleep, they contended.
Jackson lawyers contended the company's agreement with Murray created a medical conflict of interest that led him to break his Hippocratic Oath to do no harm. Murray, who was $1 million in debt, was pressured to deliver the risky treatments or else possibly lose the $150,000 monthly salary, they argued.

Executives ignored a series of warning signs that Jackson was at risk in his last weeks, including deteriorating health that included weight loss, inability to perform his trademark dances or remember lyrics to his standard songs and paranoia, the Jacksons argued.
Jurors appeared engaged and entertained during the 21-week trial that included dramatic testimony by Jackson's mother, son and former wife. Several jurors even applauded at the end of testimony by famed choreographer-director Kenny Ortega.
Click to expand...
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/02/showbiz/michael-jackson-death-trial-verdict/
 
Jury rejects case lanking company to MJ's death

A jury cleared a concert promoter of negligence in a case that attempted to link the death of Michael Jackson to the company that promoted his ill-fated comeback shows.

The panel on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit brought by Jackson's mother claiming AEG Live was negligent in hiring Conrad Murray, the doctor who killed Jackson with an overdose of a hospital anesthetic the singer used as a sleep aid.

The five-month trial provided the closest look yet at Jackson's drug use and his battles against chronic pain and insomnia.

It also took jurors behind the scenes in the rough-and-tumble world of negotiations with one of the world's most famous entertainers looking to solidify his legendary status after scandal interrupted his career.

With its verdict, the jury also delivered a somewhat surprising message: Jurors did not believe Murray was unfit or incompetent to perform his duties involving Jackson.

"That doesn't mean we felt he was ethical," jury foreman Gregg Barden said after the verdict was read.

He said the panel knew many people would not agree with the verdict but explained that the jury followed the language of the verdict form and instructions.

The ruling on the competence of Murray ended any further consideration of possible damages and who was at fault for the death.

After the hearing, juror Bryant Carino of Los Angeles was asked who was to blame for Jackson's death.

"I don't want to say whose fault it is," the 36-year-old Carino responded. "I'm not one to point fingers."

AEG Live lead defense attorney Marvin S. Putnam said he couldn't be more pleased with the verdict.

"They got it exactly right," he said.

Katherine Jackson told reporters she was OK after the verdict.

A victory could have meant hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for her and the singer's three children and provided a rebuke of AEG Live, the nation's second-largest concert promoter.

Kevin Boyle, an attorney for Katherine Jackson, said he was disappointed with the verdict.

"We, of course, are not happy with the result as it stands now," Boyle said. "We will be exploring all options legally and factually and make a decision about anything at a later time."

He added: "We think that what we've done with this case is prove some things that are important for the Jackson family and for the concert industry and the sports industry with regards to treatment by doctors."

Boyle declined to answer further questions.

Murray was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter after giving Jackson the overdose as he prepared for the comeback shows dubbed "This Is It." Witnesses at the trial said Jackson saw the concerts as a chance for personal redemption after being acquitted of child molestation.

But as the opening date of the shows approached, associates testified that he had bouts of insecurity and agonized over his inability to sleep. They said he turned to the drug propofol and found Murray, who was willing to buy it in bulk and administer it to him on a nightly basis even though it is not meant to be used outside operating rooms.

Testimony at the civil trial showed that only Jackson and Murray knew he was taking the drug.

In his closing argument, AEG Live attorney Putnam told jurors the company would have pulled the plug on the shows if executives knew Jackson was using the anesthetic.

"AEG would have never agreed to finance this tour if they knew Mr. Jackson was playing Russian roulette in his bedroom every night," Putnam said.

Brian Panish, a lawyer for the Jackson family, countered that AEG Live was negligent by not looking far enough to find out what it needed to know about Murray. He claimed in his closing argument that the lure of riches turned the company and Murray into mercenaries who sacrificed the pop star's life in a quest to boost their own fortunes.

He said Murray's $150,000-a-month contract to care for Jackson was a lifeline to help him climb out of his financial troubles, which included $500,000 in debt. AEG Live, meanwhile, had only one interest - launching a world tour for the King of Pop that would yield untold millions in profits, the lawyer said.

AEG Live's lawyers framed the case as being about personal choice, saying Jackson made bad choices about the drug that killed him and the doctor who provided it. They said he was the architect of his own demise and no one else can be blamed.

Jurors heard testimony from more than 50 witnesses, including Jackson's mother and his eldest son, Prince, as well as days of testimony from AEG executives who were repeatedly asked about emails in which they discussed Jackson's missed rehearsals and described Murray's pay as a done deal.

They also heard about Jackson's close relationship to many of his doctors, including Murray, who he first met in Las Vegas in 2007.

Katherine Jackson called the case a search for the truth about the death of her son and the trial featured potentially embarrassing revelations for both sides. AEG's executives had their emails picked apart, revealing concerns that Jackson wouldn't be able to perform the shows as planned, that a lawyer at their parent company referred to Michael Jackson as "the freak," and that Jackson was derided even though the company had invested more than $30 million in his shows.

Jackson's greatest hits were in heavy rotation throughout the trial, with jurors watching footage of him moonwalking across stages and playing to packed arenas around the globe, with some fans so overcome with emotion that some had to be carried out on stretchers. A world few saw was also on display, with private videos of Christmas mornings Jackson spent with his children and stories about his devotion to them being recounted throughout the trial.

AEG Live, meanwhile, laid out Jackson's medical history, presenting testimony about his use of drugs, including the powerful painkiller Demerol, for pain stemming from an accident that occurred decades ago while he was filming a Pepsi commercial. Jackson had no trace of that drug in his system when he died.

The lawyers called witnesses who recounted Jackson's use of propofol dating back to the 1990s. In 1997, two German doctors administered the anesthetic to help the singer sleep between shows in Munich.

Jackson's mother and his three children are supported by his estate, which provides a comfortable lifestyle for them and erased hundreds of millions of dollars in debts by debuting new projects and releasing new music featuring the King of Pop.


Source : Sapa-AP /ss
Date : 03 Oct 2013 07:31
 
Conrad Murray completes jail time for killing Michael Jackson

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/28/showbiz/conrad-murray-release/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Dr. Conrad Murray left the Los Angeles County jail under sheriff's escort, avoiding reporters and Michael Jackson fans waiting for his release early Monday.

Murray, who served two years of a four-year sentence for causing Michael Jackson's death, was driven away in a sheriff's car for the "safety and security" of the jail, sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

The handful of Jackson fans gathered outside the jail accused the Los Angeles County sheriff of showing favoritism to Murray by slipping him out of the jail through a back exit, instead of the door where freed prisoners normally leave.
Click to expand...
 
Michael Jackson Doctor's conviction upheld

A California appeals court unanimously upheld Wednesday the involuntary manslaughter conviction of Michael Jackson's former doctor, saying there was evidence of his guilt in the star's 2009 death.

Conrad Murray got a four-year jail sentence in 2011 for the singer's death from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol administered by the medic.

The doctor, who was looking after Jackson as he rehearsed in Los Angeles for a series of comeback concerts in London, served two of the four years in prison, and was let out early for good behavior and due to prison overcrowding.

He had appealed his sentence, saying there was insufficient proof of his guilt and that the jury should have been isolated during the entire length of the trial.

A three-judge panel of the California 2nd District Court of Appeal condemned Murray's behavior, saying his "false and misleading statements" and "his efforts to clean up the scene... show a consciousness of guilt."

Murray's "callous disregard for Mr Jackson's health and safety was shown throughout the trial from the manner in which he administered a number of dangerous drugs to Mr Jackson without the appropriate medical equipment, precautions or personnel in place, and to the manner in which he left Mr Jackson unattended," the judges said.

"The evidence demonstrated that Mr Jackson was a vulnerable victim and that appellant was in a position of trust, and that appellant violated the trust relationship by breaching standards of professional conduct in numerous respects."

The panel also found that the evidence presented at sentencing showed that Murray "failed to take responsibility and displayed a lack of remorse throughout the proceedings."

Murray's lawyer Valerie Wass said the decision was "disappointing but not unexpected."

She called Murray's appeal "merely the first step," hinting at further legal action possibly with the California Supreme Court.


Source : Sapa-AFP /gm
Date : 16 Jan 2014 05:59
 
CALIFORNIA COURT WON'T REVIEW JACKSON DOCTOR CASE

The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to review the involuntary manslaughter conviction of Michael Jackson's doctor, rejecting his lawyer's petition without comment.

The decision by the state's highest court was the latest stop on Dr. Conrad Murray's legal odyssey. A state appeals court upheld his conviction earlier this year and then refused to reconsider its decision.

Attorney Valerie Wass said Murray will take his fight to federal court.

"We're greatly disappointed but we intend to pursue this in federal court," Wass said.

She said she telephoned Murray with the news and, "He said, 'The fight is not over.'"

Authorities said Murray gave Jackson a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol in 2009 while the singer prepared for a series of comeback concerts.

Murray was convicted in 2011 and served two years in jail. He was released in October due to a change in California law requiring nonviolent offenders to serve their sentences in county jails and as a result of credits for good behavior.

The six-week trial focused on Murray's care of Jackson, including nightly doses of propofol to help the entertainer sleep.

The earlier appellate court decision said, "The evidence demonstrated that Mr. Jackson was a vulnerable victim and that (Murray) was in a position of trust, and that (Murray) violated the trust relationship by breaching standards of professional conduct in numerous respects."

Since his release, Murray has been traveling and spending time with family, "trying to get his life back together." Wass said.

She said the federal appeal she plans to file will focus on media coverage of the trial and exposure of the unsequestered jury to the Internet. Murray has maintained throughout his appeals that the jury should have been sequestered due to the flood of publicity surrounding the case.


Source : Sapa-AP /kd
Date : 24 Apr 2014 03:16
 
POSTHUMOUS MICHAEL JACKSON ALBUM DUE OUT MAY 13
By MESFIN FEKADU

When Michael Jackson's record label released his first posthumous album in a year after his 2009 death, producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins was asked to work on the project.

He declined.

Years later, the hitmaker who worked heavily on Jackson's 2001 comeback album "Invincible," says he's finally comfortable again producing the King of Pop's music.

He produced the title track from the upcoming album, "Xscape," out May 13.

Says Jerkins: "I had a personal relationship with Michael, (so) it was about, ...'What would he want it to sound like now?'"

"Xscape" was executive produced by Timbaland and includes songs Jackson recorded in the 1980s and 1990s. Some of the tracks are taken from early recording sessions for successful albums such as "Bad" and "Dangerous."


Source : Sapa-AP /nsm
Date : 02 May 2014 03:37
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X