Michael Jackson’s doctor will appear in court today on involuntary manslaughter charges over the singer’s death.
Dr Conrad Murray was Michael Jackson’s personal physician and prosecutors will attempt to prove that he was responsible for the star’s prescription drug overdose on June 25, 2009.
Specifically, Murray is accused of administering a fatal dose of powerful anaesthetic propofol, a drug that is usually used intravenously before surgery.
Propofel was a key factor in Jackson’s death and the prosecution will try to show that Murray was negligent in its use and did not have the right equipment to revive the singer when he went into cardiac arrest.
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Murray has pleaded innocent however, admitting that he injected Jackson with the anaesthetic to help him sleep on the night he died, but claiming the amount was not enough to harm the singer.
The doc’s defence will focus on the fact that a mystery syringe was found near Jackson’s body, suggesting that someone else – possibly Jackson himself – may have administered the drug.
However, some experts have dismissed this defence.
“It plays to what people perceive Jackson was about and that he might have done it, but it’s hard to see how it occurs without Murray having some role in it,” said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School.
Prosecutors will try to paint the doctor, who was hired to take care of Jackson during a 50-concert tour, as a man who was in financial trouble and would irresponsibly give the singer drugs if he was paid enough.
The case is expected to go to full trial and is likely to last months.
