Jackson’s mother, Katherine, said she was eager for Murray to gets the harshest sentence possible: four years in a state prison.
“I don’t believe that he intended for Michael to die,” Katherine Jackson said Monday. “He was just taking a chance.”
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor has a choice ranging between probation and up to four years in a state prison.
Legal experts say that, based on the judge’s decision to remand Murray into custody, they expect he will impose the maximum sentence.
Due to overcrowding, however, it’s likely that Murray would only serve half of a four-year sentence, or about two years.
Prosecutors successfully argued that Murray’s reckless use of the surgical anesthetic propofol to help Jackson sleep, without proper monitoring equipment, led to the singer’s death.
Testimony during his trial revealed that Murray gave propofol nearly every night in the two months before the singer’s death on June 25, 2009, as Jackson prepared for his comeback concerts set for London the next month.
Murray was found guilty three weeks ago.
The prosecutors are also asking ordered to pay Jackson’s three children restitution for the subsequent “wage and profits lost,” as provided under California’s “victim’s bill of rights” law.
The singer’s “estate estimates Michael Jackson’s projected earnings for the 50-show O2 concert series to be $100 million,” the prosecutors said.
With nearly $2 million in funeral expenses and 10% interest added each year, the prosecution is asking Pastor to order Murray to pay Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson more than $120 million in restitution.
While it is doubtful that Murray, who is unlikely to ever practice medicine again, could pay much of that sum, it could prevent him from reaping financial benefits from any books, interviews or film projects in the future.
