Dr. Conrad Murray said in a motion filed Friday that he should be released either on his own recognizance or on bail with electronic monitoring. He said he is not a danger to society.

Murray, who is serving a four-year sentence, said he would try to find employment to contribute to the support of his seven children.

His lawyer said Murray is being held in solitary confinement and is chained to a table when he meets with his lawyers. He said the sentence and confinement are extremely severe for a man with no prior criminal history and that Murray is extremely sorrowful about Jackson’s death.

Michael Jackson’s daughter says she was inspired to be an actress after seeing her father in the film “Moonwalker.”

Paris Jackson spoke to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres about her acting aspirations and the lengths that her father took to protect her identity for the episode airing Thursday.

The 13-year-old says her father encouraged her and did improvisation sessions to develop her skills. The teen has been cast alongside Larry King in a film based on a children’s book that is in early stages of development.

Paris Jackson says she had a normal childhood thanks to her father’s decision to place her and her two brothers in masks when they were in public.

She says no one recognized her when she began attending school.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The doctor convicted of causing Michael Jackson’s death is asking a court to appoint a publicly funded attorney to handle his appeal.

Conrad Murray filed an amended notice of appeal in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday stating that he is indigent and unable to pay for an appellate lawyer to try to overturn his involuntary manslaughter conviction.

The 58-year-old cardiologist intends to appeal his conviction but does not yet have an attorney who can prepare briefs and argue his case before the California 2nd District Court of Appeal.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that felony convicts have a constitutional right to assistance of counsel.

A jury convicted Murray last month in connection with Jackson’s June 2009 death. Murray is expected to serve roughly two years in jail.

The doctor sentenced to four years behind bars for causing Michael Jackson’s death has filed a notice that he intends to appeal the conviction.

Conrad Murray signed a one-page document that was filed in Los Angeles on Friday seeking all records and transcripts from the case. The filing does not indicate the basis on which Murray will argue to overturn his conviction or sentence.

The 58-year-old was sentenced Tuesday to four years in jail for his involuntary manslaughter conviction, but the term will be automatically cut in half.

Murray’s challenge will be heard by a state appeals court in Los Angeles, assuming he files an opening brief at a later date.

Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor blasted Murray’s conduct on Tuesday, calling him a disgrace to the medical profession.

The private world of Michael Jackson, fiercely shielded by the superstar in life, was exposed in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. But rather than suffering harm from revelations of drug use, experts say Jackson’s legacy and posthumous earning power will survive any damage done and could actually grow after he was portrayed as a victim of a money-hungry doctor.

Jackson died before he could launch a series of highly anticipated comeback concerts in London as he tried to regain the towering status he enjoyed when he released the “Thriller” album in 1983.

But his death did breathe new life into record sales and boosted other projects to generate hundreds of millions of dollars for his estate, even as his already tarnished personal life took another hit by revelations about his drug use.

Jackson zoomed to the top of the Forbes Magazine list of highest earning dead celebrities and his executors are moving quickly on more projects designed to burnish the performer’s image and expand the inheritance of his three children.

A Cirque du Soleil extravaganza, “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour” opens in Las Vegas this weekend, a precursor to a permanent installation at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, and fans are expected to flock there for a “Fan Fest” exhibit of Jackson memorabilia.

After the trial, a judge made it clear that the defense effort to cast Jackson as the villain in the case had been a miserable failure. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, called a reckless opportunist and sentenced to the maximum four years in prison.

Judge Michael Pastor also blasted Murray for experimenting on the pop star with the operating-room anesthetic propofol to help him battle debilitating insomnia, even though the drug was never meant to be used in a private home.

Some experts say the revelations made the King of Pop look more like a regular person coping with a difficult challenge.

“In the final analysis, not a lot of damage was done,” Jackson biographer J. Randy Taraborelli said. “I think the trial humanized Michael Jackson. It presented him as a human being with problems.”

As evidence unfolded, “It definitely made our hearts go out to Michael Jackson. He was a person suffering a great deal and not getting the help he needed,” the author said.

Taraborelli said the entertainer’s family, fans and estate executors were concerned before the trial that testimony would paint Jackson as responsible for his own death while resurrecting past accusations of child molestation and bizarre behavior by the King of Pop.

But the judge limited testimony and evidence to Jackson’s final months and specifically ruled out any mention of the 2005 molestation trial.

Thomas Mesereau Jr., the attorney who won Jackson’s acquittal in that case, believes the Murray trial did damage Jackson’s reputation but said the impact would likely be short term.

“It certainly didn’t help to have all this testimony about drug use,” Mesereau said. “But as time passes, people will focus more on his music and the negatives will fade.”

While Murray was ultimately shown to be negligent, the portrait of his patient that emerged during the trial was one of an aging superstar desperate to cement his place in entertainment history while providing a stable home life for adored children, Paris, Prince and Blanket.

The image of Jackson as a caring father had never been illustrated quite so vividly. A probation officer who interviewed Jackson’s mother, Katherine, said she told him: “Michael Jackson was his children’s world, and their world collapsed when he left.”

A leading expert on the licensing and branding of dead celebrities believes the trial engendered so much sympathy for Jackson that in the long run it will eclipse negative fallout from his past.

“I don’t think any tawdry revelations that may have come out of the trial will have any impact on his lasting legacy,” said Martin Cribbs, who is based in New York. “We as a society tend to give everyone a second chance. Michael’s legacy will be like Elvis and the Beatles. It will be his music, his genius. and his charitable works “

Cribbs has represented the estates of such deceased luminaries as Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Steve McQueen and Mae West.

He is not involved in the Jackson estate but praised its executors’ efforts. Beginning with the rapid release of the concert movie, “This Is It,” he said, “They have done a brilliant job of reminding us of Michael’s genius.”

Taraborelli also cited the film based on rehearsals for Jackson’s ill-fated concerts as a spectacular move setting the stage for a posthumous comeback of the Jackson entertainment empire.

“It made you want to embrace him,” said the author of “Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness.”

Jackson’s eccentricities and bizarre behavior often made headlines. Whether it was traveling with a chimp named Bubbles, sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber or dangling his baby Blanket off a balcony, he managed to alienate many people. The molestation trial pushed him further from the mainstream.

“That all ended on the day the news was announced that Michael was dead,” said Lance Grode, a former music executive and onetime attorney for Jackson who now teaches legal issues in music at University of Southern California.

“The public decided they prefer to remember Michael as this great superstar and music prodigy and to forgive and forget any negative things they had heard over the last 10 or 15 years,” Grode said. “Nothing came out at the trial that was nearly as bad as things they had heard in the past.”

Grode said evidence of public acceptance is seen in the Jackson estate’s ability to generate a half-billion dollars in the wake of his death.

The Cirque show, which launched in Canada, is slated for 150 dates across North America through July and expected to run through 2014 internationally. The permanent Las Vegas show is due in 2013.

The year he died, Jackson sold 8.3 million albums in the U.S. — nearly twice as many as second-place Taylor Swift — and “This Is It” became the highest-grossing concert film and documentary of all time.

Joe Vogel, author of a new book on Jackson’s music, and others said the most shocking part of the Murray trial was the playing of a recording of a drugged Jackson slurring his words while dreaming aloud about his future concert and his plans to build a fantastic state of the art children’s hospital.

Vogel said the recording, found on Murray’s cell phone, reveals the dark side of Jackson’s world.

“Michael had a difficult life. He said once that you have to have tragedy to pull from to create something beautiful and inspiring. And that’s what he did. His music has staying power,” Vogel said.

Rich Hanley, a pop culture specialist who teaches journalism at Connecticut’s Quinnipiac University, said Jackson had “complexities on top of complexities.”

“There may be collateral damage to his reputation from the trial. His inner sanctum was penetrated for the first time,” he said.

However, “his music is eternal. It brings universal joy to people and will continue as much as Elvis’ work continues to attract new fans even though he’s been gone for generations,” Hanley said.

Lawyers for the doctor convicted of causing Michael Jackson’s death are returning to court to seek testing of a vial of the powerful anesthetic that killed the singer.

Attorneys for Dr. Conrad Murray are expected to ask a judge Monday to release to an independent lab the vial of propofol that authorities contend was used on the morning of Jackson’s death.

Attorney J. Michael Flanagan wrote in a court filing that the testing is necessary to analyze the prosecution theory that Murray placed Jackson on an IV drip of propofol and the painkiller lidocaine then left the room.

Prosecutors and Flanagan are expected to argue about the request during a hearing at 11 a.m. in Los Angeles.

Murray was convicted two weeks ago of involuntary manslaughter.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

A law partner of Dr. Conrad Murray’s chief defense attorney is facing a contempt hearing stemming from an interview he gave during the trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor.

Matt Alford, who practices with attorney Ed Chernoff, in Houston, was ordered to appear Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor. The judge threatened to hold Alford in contempt for his appearance on NBC’s Today show.

Alford gave an interview in which he criticized a prosecution witness in the Murray trial and made comments about the jury. The judge said he found the interview shocking since it came only hours after he had warned defense attorneys not to comment on the case outside court.

Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter last week in Jackson’s death and is in jail awaiting sentencing Nov. 29.

The man who drove the doctor convicted of causing Michael Jackson’s death to court each day says a documentary film crew essentially “owned” the physician during his six-week trial.

Louis Perry says he drove producers to an upscale department store at the behest of the documentary’s producer and the physician emerged with new suits. Perry says the producer, Leon Lecash, also took Murray out to expensive, booze-filled dinners to high-end restaurants.

Lecash wrote the Los Angeles Times, which first reported Perry’s comments, that the meals and other items were legitimate production costs.

Perry, who owns Kadima Security Services in Los Angeles, says he refused to allow his likeness to be used in the documentary, which airs Friday night on MSNBC.

Murray remains jailed while he awaits sentencing.

Related articles

• Conrad Murray is ‘surrounded by sharks,’ driver says (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
• British television airs Conrad Murray documentary (pbpulse.com)
• Jackson doctor defends himself in NBC interviews (pbpulse.com)

Murray was convicted Monday of the pop star’s involuntary manslaughter.

“The Man Who Killed Michael Jackson” aired Thursday. It includes an interview with Murray, conducted before his conviction, by British journalist Steve Hewlett.

In the interview, Murray says that on the day Jackson died the singer pleaded for the drug, begging “let me have some milk,” referring to propofol.

News that U.S. channel MSNBC plans to show the documentary — under the title “Michael Jackson and the Doctor: A Fatal Friendship” — brought outrage from Jackson’s family and executors.

NBC’s “Today” has been broadcasting its own interviews with Murray this week.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The doctor convicted of killing Michael Jackson remained silent during his trial, but Conrad Murray defended himself in interviews taped just days before a jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Murray defended his use of the surgical anesthetic propofol to put Jackson to sleep in interviews set to air Thursday and Friday on NBC’s “Today” show. NBC released excerpts of the interview Wednesday.

“I think propofol is not recommended to be given in the home setting,” Murray said, “but it is not contraindicated.”

The Houston cardiologist also said Jackson had been using the substance long before the pop star met Murray.

Under questioning by the “Today” show’s Savannah Guthrie, Murray said it was not necessary for him to monitor Jackson because he had given him only a small dose of propofol, and he said that was the reason he didn’t mention it to paramedics when they arrived at Jackson’s mansion.

“That’s a very sad reason,” he said, “because it was inconsequential — 25 milligrams and the effect’s gone. Means nothing.”

Guthrie asked, “Well, you told them about the other drugs, but you didn’t tell them about propofol?”

“Because it had no effect,” Murray said. “It was not an issue.”

The coroner would subsequently find that Jackson, 50, died of “acute propofol intoxication” after a huge dose of the drug complicated by other sedatives.

Murray’s defense tried to show that Jackson gave himself an extra dose of propofol while Murray was out of the room, but prosecution experts said there was no evidence of that and it was a crazy theory.

Asked by Guthrie if he became distracted by phone calls, emailing and text messages, Murray said, “No I was not.”

“When I looked at a man who was all night deprived of sleep, who was desperate for sleep and finally is getting some sleep, am I gonna sit over him, sit around him, tug on his feet, do anything unusual to wake him up? No,” Murray said.

“You walked out of the room to talk on the phone?” Guthrie asked.

“Absolutely, I wanted him to rest.”

He insisted Jackson was not on an infusion that would stop his breathing and, “I was not supposed to be monitoring him at that time because there was no need for monitoring.”

Other doctors testified at Murray’s trial that leaving a patient alone after giving him an anesthetic was an egregious deviation from the standard of care expected of a physician.

In one exchange, Murray suggested that had he known that Jackson had a problem with addiction to medications he might have acted differently. Experts testified that he should have researched Jackson’s medical history before he undertook his treatment for insomnia.

On the day Jackson died, June 25, 2009, Murray said he believed he had weaned the singer off of propofol, the drug Jackson called his “milk.”

But when Jackson could not sleep, Murray told “Today,” he gave the entertainer a very small dose of propofol.

In retrospect, he said he probably should have walked away when Jackson asked for propofol. But he said he would have been abandoning a friend.

Meanwhile, the disclosure that MSNBC will air a documentary about Murray brought outrage Wednesday from the executors of Jackson’s estate, who said Murray is getting a prime-time platform to smear Jackson’s reputation without fear of cross-examination.

The executors, John Branca and John McClain, demanded the program entitled “Michael Jackson and the Doctor: A Fatal Friendship” be cancelled. The network said it had no comment.

Murray, 58, was hired by Jackson at a promised salary of $150,000 a month to accompany the singer on his “This Is It” concert tour to London.

A jury that heard six weeks of testimony convicted Murray of involuntary manslaughter on Monday. He is now being held in Los Angeles County Jail awaiting sentencing Nov. 29 and could face up to four years in prison.

Defense attorney Ed Chernoff said in an interview aired on KCAL-TV Wednesday that he wasn’t surprised by the verdict. “I can’t say I was surprised,” Chernoff said. “Look, it was a tough case.”

Chernoff said earlier this week that the verdict was disappointing and would be appealed.

In a separate interview broadcast Wednesday, one of the jurors said there were contentious moments, including yelling and cajoling, during the two days of deliberations.

Debbie Franklin, 48, told ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” in the first juror interview so far that most of the jurors had decided on guilt Friday, the first day of deliberations.

But, she said “not everyone was convinced that Dr. Murray was solely responsible for Michael Jackson’s death.”

“Toward the end of the day, we finally took a vote,” Franklin said. “It was not unanimous and we talked a little more about it.”

The panel decided to think it over during a weekend break.

“It was stressful,” said the mother of two, who is a paralegal. She said there was “yelling and we had to keep saying, ‘Nobody talk while this person is talking. Raise your hand if you have something to say.”

The majority managed on Monday to convince all jurors that Murray was negligent and his mistakes led to Jackson death, Franklin said.

“He had addictions. He asked other doctors to do it (give him the operating room anesthetic propofol). They said no. He was looking for somebody to say yes. And Conrad Murray said yes,” she said.

An Associated Press reporter approached Franklin for an interview Wednesday but she refused. She said all jurors had agreed not to speak to the media, but she did not explain why they made that agreement or why she spoke to ABC.

After Michael Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009, the gated mansion at 100 North Carolwood Drive where the pop star lived with his three children while preparing for his comeback concerts became part media camp, part Jackson tribute ground.

Hundreds of tearful fans left cards, flowers, balloons and handwritten notes in front of the three-story home resembling a French chateau, while dozens of reporters jumped at any development in the death investigation. Anyone coming in or out of the property was bombarded with questions.

Now, as Dr. Conrad Murray sits in a jail cell awaiting sentencing for involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death, the contents of the home — including the queen-size bed where Jackson took his last breath — sit neatly on display, just as they were, awaiting the auction block.

“We want to preserve the history of these items,” said celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien, president of Julien’s Auctions, which next month will sell the various antique furnishings, paintings and sculptures that surrounded the King of Pop in his final days.

Located on a leafy corner in the posh Holmby Hills neighborhood, the Carolwood home where Jackson lived from December 2008 until his death is separately up for sale. The house and its furnishings were leased to Jackson while he and his family lived there.

A note from one of the children remains on a chalkboard inside the home’s sprawling kitchen, where three barstools were lined up against the center island — a perfect breakfast spot for the kids. “I (heart) Daddy. SMILE, it’s for free,” the chalk note reads in childlike scrawl. The chalkboard will be sold as-is, and is expected to fetch more than $400.

At the very moment on Monday that Murray was hearing his guilty verdict, reporters were eerily taking a private preview tour of the three-story home where the pop star lived and died.

The bedroom shown in evidence photos at Murray’s criminal trial was actually considered a “medication room” by the Jackson team. Murray was convicted of supplying an insomnia-plagued Jackson with the powerful operating-room anesthetic propofol to help him sleep as he rehearsed for a series of comeback concerts in London.

The room looked perfect, like a hotel room awaiting its first guest. There was no sign that anyone had struggled there with insomnia or drug addiction, certainly no sign that anyone had died.

Jackson maintained an adjacent bedroom that he regarded as his inner sanctum — a private place only for him.

It is in this second bedroom that the pop star wrote a message to himself on the mirror of an antique armoire. “TRAIN, perfection, March April. FULL OUT May,” it reads. Jackson was to begin his London concert run in July.

His private bedroom included a bathroom larger than most living rooms and two massive walk-in closets.

Among the items for sale in the medication room, where evidence was collected for Murray’s trial, are upholstered chairs smudged with Jackson’s makeup and Jackson’s death bed, which looks out to an expansive backyard surrounded by tall trees. The yard is anchored by a large swimming pool and a pool house, where the singer’s son Prince carved his name on a beeswax candle.

The medication room, on the top floor, leads to another walk-in closet and bathroom, where Jackson’s makeup still remains on a small silk-covered stool beneath the vanity.

Curving staircases on each side of the mansion’s most famous room lead down to the kitchen and the elegant foyer, where a grand piano sits topped with crystal candlesticks.

Katherine Jackson’s attorney, Perry Sanders Jr., said he is aware of the Carolwood auction and has “done everything we can to ascertain that items from this address are not being auctioned using Michael’s name and likeness to enhance the items’ value.”

Photos of the house and the items available for sale are featured in a limited-edition auction catalog, which is being sold for $100. But the catalog and auction are discreetly titled “100 North Carolwood Drive” and the words “Michael Jackson” do not appear anywhere in the catalog.

The home and its décor are reminiscent of Neverland Ranch, Jackson’s famous estate near Santa Barbara, said Martin J. Nolan, executive director of Julien’s Auctions.

“He loved it because it was like Neverland,” Nolan said. “It was a very happy place where he spent his final days.”

Julien’s Auctions sold collectibles from the Neverland Ranch in April of 2009.

Like Neverland, the Carolwood house features its own movie theater — this one outfitted entirely in burgundy velvet with loveseat-style sofas and a fresco of a cloud-dotted sky on the ceiling.

Built in 2000 and designed by architect Richard Landry, the house at 100 North Carolwood is dominated by 18th and 19th century French décor. The walls are lined with various watercolor and acrylic paintings and sculptures fill nooks in the den and family rooms

Although up for sale, the 54,885-square-foot home will not be auctioned. The house has six bedrooms and 10 fireplaces. It also has a wine cellar, fitness center and formal dining and sitting rooms. The price was not disclosed but similar homes in the area are listed at $18 million and up.

Highlights from the furnishings sale will be on view at a free exhibition at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif., beginning Dec. 12. The auction is set for Dec. 17.

Celebrity home tours still regularly pass by the property. On the day of Murray’s conviction, a tour guide could be heard telling passengers, “This is the home of Michael Jackson, where he passed away.”

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Just days after the guilty verdict for Conrad Murray, MSNBC will broadcast a documentary that promises to give the inside story of Michael Jackson’s doctor.

MSNBC says Murray, who did not take the stand at his trial, breaks his silence in the program, “Michael Jackson and the Doctor,” which has been two years in the making. Murray reveals personal details of his relationship with the King of Pop, as well as untold events that led to Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009.

The network announced the film will have its U.S. premiere on Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern time. It will be repeated on Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern time.

Murray was found guilty Monday of involuntary manslaughter for supplying Jackson with a drug he craved for sleep.

If convicted, Dr. Conrad Murray faces a sentence ranging from probation to four years in prison in the death of Michael Jackson. Some of the factors related to sentencing:

— Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor would have complete discretion to decide the sentence. He would receive a probation department report on Murray recommending a sentence. Both prosecution and defense attorneys also would file recommendations. But the decision would be his and his alone.

— The judge could consider that Murray is a defendant with no prior criminal record, a circumstance that might mitigate in favor of probation.

— Because of AB109, a recent California prison realignment bill, Murray probably would not go to state prison. If given a prison sentence, he would most likely serve it in the county jail because of prison overcrowding. There has been speculation that he would be allowed to serve a term of house arrest.

— The penal code calls for a convicted defendant to be sentenced in 20 days, but he could waive that time while his attorneys prepare a motion for new trial and an appeal. He could remain free on bail during that period.

— Murray would lose his medical license.

Michael Jackson’s doctor was convicted Monday of involuntary manslaughter after a trial that painted him as a reckless caregiver who administered a lethal dose of a powerful anesthetic that killed the pop star.

The verdict against Dr. Conrad Murray marked the latest chapter in one of pop culture’s most shocking tragedies – the death of the King of Pop on the eve of the singer’s heavily promoted comeback concerts.

Members of Jackson’s family, including his sister LaToya, wept quietly after the verdict was read.

Mother Katherine Jackson later told The Associated Press, “I feel better now.”

Asked if she was confident this would be the outcome, she said, “Yes I was.”

La Toya Jackson told the AP she was overjoyed.

“Michael was looking over us,” she said on her way out of the courthouse.

Murray sat stone-faced during the verdict and was handcuffed and taken into custody without bail until sentencing on Nov. 29. He appeared calm as officials led him out of the courtroom.

“Dr. Murray’s reckless conduct in this case poses a demonstrable risk to the safety of the public” if he remains free on bond, Judge Michael E. Pastor said.

A shriek broke the eerie silence in the packed courtroom when the verdict was read, and the crowd erupted outside the courthouse. Jubilant Jackson fans cheered and sang “Beat It” as they held signs that read “guilty” and “killer.” Passing motorists honked their horns.

The jury deliberated less than nine hours. The Houston cardiologist, 58, faces a sentence of up to four years in prison. He could also lose his medical license.

Murray’s attorneys left the courtroom without commenting.

In Las Vegas, a former Murray patient and current friend, Donna DiGiacomo, sobbed and said she thought the jury was under “overwhelming pressure to convict.”

“This man didn’t deserve this. They needed a scapegoat,” said DiGiacomo, 53, a former Long Island, N.Y., teacher’s aide who said she didn’t believe Murray did anything to intentionally harm Jackson.

Jackson died on June 25, 2009, and details of his final days dribbled out over several months.

The complete story, however, finally emerged during the six-week trial. It was the tale of a tormented genius on the brink of what might have been his greatest triumph with one impediment standing in his way – extreme insomnia.

Testimony came from medical experts, household employees and Murray’s former girlfriends, among others.

The most shocking moments, however, came when prosecutors displayed a large picture of Jackson’s gaunt, lifeless body on a hospital gurney and played the sound of his drugged, slurred voice, as recorded by Murray just weeks before the singer’s death.

Jackson talked about plans for a fantastic children’s hospital and his hope of cementing a legacy larger than that of Elvis Presley or The Beatles.

“We have to be phenomenal,” he said about his “This Is It” concerts in London. “When people leave this show, when people leave my show, I want them to say, `I’ve never seen nothing like this in my life. Go. Go. I’ve never seen nothing like this. Go. It’s amazing. He’s the greatest entertainer in the world.’”

Prosecutors portrayed Murray as an incompetent doctor who used the anesthetic propofol without adequate safeguards and whose neglect left Jackson abandoned as he lay dying.

Murray’s lawyers sought to show the doctor was a medical angel of mercy with former patients vouching for his skills. Murray told police from the outset that he gave Jackson propofol and other sedatives as the star struggled for sleep to prepare for his shows. But the doctor said he administered only a small dose on the day Jackson died.

Lawyers for Murray and a defense expert blamed Jackson for his own death, saying the singer gave himself the fatal dose of propofol while Murray wasn’t watching. A prosecution expert said that theory was crazy.

Murray said he had formed a close friendship with Jackson, never meant to harm him and couldn’t explain why he died.

The circumstances of Jackson’s death at the age of 50 were as bizarre as any chapter in the superstar’s sensational life story.

Jackson was found not breathing in his own bed in his rented mansion after being dosed intravenously with propofol, a drug normally administered in hospitals during surgery.

The coroner ruled the case a homicide and the blame would fall to the last person who had seen Jackson alive – Murray, who had been hired to care for the singer as the comeback concerts neared.

Craving sleep, Jackson had searched for a doctor who would give him the intravenous anesthetic that Jackson called his “milk” and believed to be his salvation. Other medical professionals turned him down, according to trial testimony.

Murray gave up his practices in Houston and Las Vegas and agreed to travel with Jackson and work as his personal physician indefinitely.

For six weeks, as Jackson undertook strenuous rehearsals, Murray infused him with propofol every night, the doctor told police. He later tried to wean Jackson from the drug because he feared he was becoming addicted.

Jackson planned to pay Murray $150,000 a month for an extended tour in Europe. In the end, the doctor was never paid a penny because Jackson died before signing the contract.

During the last 24 hours of his life, Jackson sang and danced at a spirited rehearsal, reveling in the adulation of fans who greeted him outside. Then came a night of horror, chasing sleep – the most elusive treasure the millionaire entertainer could not buy.

Testimony showed Murray gave Jackson intravenous doses that night of the sedatives lorazepam and midazolam. Jackson also took a Valium pill. But nothing seemed to bring sleep.

Finally, Murray told police, he gave the singer a small dose of propofol – 25 milligrams – that seemed to put him to sleep. The doctor said he felt it was safe to leave his patient’s bedside for a few minutes, but Jackson was not breathing when he returned.

Witnesses said he was most likely dead at that point.

What happened next was a matter of dispute during the trial. Security and household staff described Murray as panicked, never calling 911 but trying to give Jackson CPR on his bed instead of the firm floor.

A guard said Murray was concerned with packing up and hiding medicine bottles and IV equipment before telling him to call 911. Prosecutors said Murray was distracted while Jackson was sedated, citing Murray’s cell phone records to show he made numerous calls.

Authorities never accused Murray of intending to kill the star, and it took eight months for them to file the involuntary manslaughter charge against him. It was the lowest possible felony charge involving a homicide.

There was no law against administering propofol or the other sedatives. But prosecution expert witnesses said Murray was acting well below the standard of care required of a physician.

They said using propofol in a home setting without lifesaving equipment on hand was an egregious deviation from that standard. They called it gross negligence, the legal basis for an involuntary manslaughter charge.

After the Los Angeles jury signaled it had reached a verdict, LaToya twittered, “Verdict is FINALLY IN!!! I’m on my way! I’m shaking uncontrollably!”

Jurors will begin deliberations Friday in the involuntary manslaughter case against Michael Jackson’s personal doctor.

It will be the first day that the seven-man, five-woman panel will consider the evidence against Dr. Conrad Murray, who is accused of causing Jackson’s June 2009 death.

The jury heard Thursday from a prosecutor who described Murray as an incompetent, opportunistic doctor who was giving Jackson the powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid. A defense attorney countered that Jackson was to blame for his own death and Murray agreed to be his personal physician but was unaware of the singer’s drug dependency issues.

Any verdict the jury reaches must be unanimous. If convicted, Murray could be sentenced to up to four years behind bars and will lose his medical license.

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY

A prosecutor told jurors Thursday that Michael Jackson’s doctor is responsible for his death and for leaving his children without a father.

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren invoked Jackson’s children early in his closing argument, saying the superstar had them in mind in his final days and they were a driving force behind his planned series of comeback concerts.

“For Michael’s children, this case will go on forever because they do not have a father,” Walgren said. “They do not have a father because of the actions of Conrad Murray.”

Walgren also recounted for jurors how Jackson’s daughter Paris came upon Murray frantically trying to revive her lifeless father and screaming, “Daddy!”

The prosecutor urged jurors to convict Murray of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009. He repeatedly called Murray’s treatment of Jackson bizarre and said there was no precedent for the cardiologist giving the singer a powerful anesthetic as a sleep aid.

Still, Jackson trusted him and that that eventually cost the singer his life, Walgren said.

“Conrad Murray looked out for himself and himself alone,” the prosecutor said.

Murray silently watched slides shown by the prosecutor during his presentation. He has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys will lay out his version of events after the prosecutor finishes his argument.

Throughout the trial, Walgren cast Murray as an inept, reckless physician who was distracted after giving the singer a powerful dose of the anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid.

Walgren noted that Murray did not call 911 after finding Jackson unresponsive. Instead he called Jackson’s personal assistant, a decision the prosecutor said was just one of the doctor’s bizarre actions on the day the singer died.

“He knew his acts killed Michael Jackson,” Walgren said. “Maybe he’s panicked. Maybe he’s cleaning up … But he’s putting Conrad Murray first. He’s intentionally not calling 911. He’s intentionally delaying help that could have saved Michael Jackson’s life.”

The prosecutor also pointed out that Murray’s own phone records contradict his statement to police that Jackson was complaining about not being able to sleep in the hours before the doctor said he gave him propofol.

Murray was on the phone when the supposed complaints from Jackson were being made, Walgren said.

“What was so pressing that he just couldn’t care for Michael Jackson?” Walgren asked without giving jurors an answer.

The prosecutor also reminded jurors that Murray never mentioned to paramedics or emergency room doctors that he had been giving Jackson propofol for roughly two months before his death.

“That is consciousness of guilt,” Walgren said. “That is Conrad Murray knowing full well what caused Michael Jackson’s death.”

Walgren told jurors that Murray ordered more than four gallons of propofol and had it shipped to his girlfriend’s Los Angeles-area apartment.

Prosecutors say Murray was engaged in a lawful practice by giving propofol to Jackson but acted in a criminally negligent way by using the drug as an insomnia treatment without the presence of proper staff or medical equipment.

They also contend Murray botched resuscitation efforts, kept no medical records and lied to other medical personnel about his actions.

The majority of the witnesses and evidence was presented by prosecutors, who must convince the entire jury beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict Murray.

Walgren also referred to a recording of Jackson found on Murray’s cellphone in which the singer’s speech was slow and slurred. The prosecutor said it was not known why Murray made the recording but that it was made “by a doctor who will not keep a shred of medical records.”

Lead defense attorney Ed Chernoff is likely to argue later in the day that Jackson was responsible for his own death and took a fatal dose of propofol when Murray left his bedroom.

Walgren attacked the theory and the expert – retired anesthesiologist Dr. Paul White – who presented it to jurors.

“What you were presented by Dr. White was junk science,” Walgren told jurors. “It was garbage.”

The prosecutor noted that some of the charts White presented to jurors were prepared by a researcher the night before he took the stand. The researcher didn’t testify and had been watching the proceedings on TV, Walgren said.

Earlier in the day, Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor gave jurors instructions considering the evidence in the case and reminded them before Walgren began speaking that closing arguments are not evidence.

The seven-man, five-woman jury has listened attentively throughout the six-week trial that featured 49 witnesses and complex medical testimony. They also heard several audio recordings, including Murray’s lengthy interview with police detectives.

The jury did not hear directly from Murray, who opted not to testify in his own defense.

The doctor could faces up to four years behind bars and the loss of his medical license if he’s convicted.

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY

Closing arguments are set to begin Thursday as the involuntary manslaughter trial against Michael Jackson’s doctor heads into its final stages before jury deliberations.

Before listening to arguments by prosecutors and defense attorneys, Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor will give jurors detailed instructions on how they should interpret evidence in the case and what they can and cannot consider.

There has been no time limit announced for how long each side will argue its position, although Pastor cautioned attorneys on Tuesday to keep their final speeches focused.

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren will have the first and last word during arguments as he tries to convince the jury of seven men and five women that Dr. Conrad Murray should be convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Walgren has cast Murray as an inept, reckless physician who was distracted on the morning of Jackson’s June 2009 death after giving the singer a powerful dose of the anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid.

Prosecutors are operating on the theory that while Murray was engaged in lawful practices during his treatment of Jackson, he acted in a criminally negligent way by using propofol as an insomnia treatment without the proper staff or medical equipment, and that he botched resuscitation efforts and lied to other medical personnel about his actions.

The majority of the witnesses and evidence was presented by prosecutors, who must convince the jury unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict Murray.

Lead defense attorney Ed Chernoff is likely to argue that Jackson was responsible for his own death and took a fatal dose of propofol when Murray left his bedroom on June 25, 2009. Chernoff will also likely rely on the statements of five character witnesses, mostly former patients, to try to convince jurors that he should not be held responsible for Jackson’s death.

After Walgren’s final arguments, Pastor will offer some additional instructions and the jury’s deliberations will begin.

The panel has listened attentively throughout the six-week trial, which featured 49 witnesses and some complex medical testimony. They also heard several audio recordings, including one of Jackson himself in which his speech was slow and slurred, as well as Murray’s lengthy interview with police detectives.

It is unclear if any of those items will get a reprise during closing arguments, but Walgren told Pastor he is planning a slideshow presentation.

Murray, 58, has been stoic through most of the proceedings. He cried when one of his friends, Ruby Mosley, talked about the cardiologist founding a clinic in a poor Houston neighborhood in honor of his father.

The jury did not hear directly from Murray, who opted not to testify in his own defense.

The doctor faces up to four years behind bars and the loss of his medical license if he’s convicted.

The doctor charged in Michael Jackson’s death says he will not testify in his own defense.

Dr. Conrad Murray told a judge about his decision during a Tuesday court proceeding outside the presence of jurors.

Murray had left the possibility open that he might take the witness stand on Monday, telling Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor that he had not yet made a final decision.

The judge had advised Murray of his constitutional rights to testify or to remain silent.

Testimony may conclude in the case Tuesday with jurors hearing from medical experts.

Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in connection with Jackson’s June 2009 death. He could face up to four years behind bars and the loss of his medical license if convicted.

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY

The differing opinions of two professors on how a powerful anesthetic killed Michael Jackson has left jurors with two scenarios to consider about how the King of Pop died, and in the process has also strained the relationship of the two longtime collaborators and friends.

Armed with decades of experience, IV bags and syringes, the men showed jurors how a powerful, milky-white anesthetic may have flowed from a bottle into Jackson’s body on the morning of June 25, 2009.

Doctors Paul White and Steven Shafer worked alongside each other for years and are credited with helping bring propofol to operating rooms and making its usage safe.

But their different theories on how Jackson died from the drug — whether his personal physician Conrad Murray administered it or the singer injected it himself — have sparked a clash of harsh rhetoric between the two men more familiar with operating rooms and classrooms than the high stakes of a celebrity trial.

White and Shafer were colleagues at Stanford University and conducted research on propofol before it was approved for use in U.S. operating rooms in 1989. Both help edit a leading anesthesia journal. Until White’s retirement last year, both were practicing anesthesiologists.

Each man’s search to explain how Jackson died led them to conduct their own research and computer modeling.

The tension between them began after Shafer, an affable Columbia University researcher, told jurors on Oct. 20 that he was “disappointed” in White for suggesting earlier that Jackson may have drunk the fatal dose of propofol.

Shafer’s dismissive comment that even first-year medical students knew that wouldn’t work cut deeply for White, who worked on propofol for six years before it was approved for use in the United States.

As Shafer testified, White occasionally shook his head until being admonished by a judge to stop making any gestures in court.

White, according to a report posted online by E! Entertainment Television, turned to reporters while Shafer testified and called either Shafer or a prosecutor a “scumbag.” White later told a judge he didn’t recall making the remark but acknowledged talking to an E! reporter about being bothered by Shafer’s testimony.

“Of course, when someone makes derogatory comments about you in court, it has an effect on you,” White told the judge. “I was very disappointed in Dr. Shafer’s remark.”

White’s interview may earn him a contempt-of-court violation for violating a gag order, but that issue will be decided after Murray’s trial is concluded.

The courtroom rhetoric between the men cooled last week, with White repeatedly crediting Shafer for his work.

“Dr. Shafer is actually a good friend, and he actually helped me on a number of the papers,” White testified.

White left behind any hurt feelings as he took the witness stand and matter-of-factly detailed his theory that Jackson must have given himself a fatal dose of propofol. It was the only explanation, White said, for the levels of the drug found in Jackson’s blood and urine during an autopsy.

Shafer wasn’t in the courtroom when White testified but may be called as a rebuttal witness. Prosecutors will begin their cross-examination of White on Monday.

Shafer previously ruled out the self-administration theory, calling it “crazy” and saying Jackson would have been too groggy to pull it off. For emphasis, he placed the theory on a chart and crossed it out with a big red “X.” He told jurors the only explanation for Jackson’s death was that Murray placed the singer on an IV propofol drip and left the room when he appeared to be sleeping comfortably.

Shafer said Murray committed 17 egregious violations of the standard of care and should have never been giving the singer propofol as a sleep aid.

“We are in pharmacological never-never land here, something that was done to Michael Jackson and no one else in history to my knowledge,” he told jurors.

White’s testimony did not address Murray’s conduct.

The differing viewpoints are understandable, given the lack of information the men have to make their conclusions, said Dr. Zeev Kain, chairman of the anesthesiology department at the University of California, Irvine.

“I was a bit surprised at how much was unknown,” Kain said. “When all you have are blood levels in certain body parts and that is it, it is very hard to come up with a theory of what happened. I think that explains the different opinions.”

Shafer and White both considered Murray’s statement to police two days after Jackson’s death and the autopsy results that showed the singer died with propofol throughout his body. The drug metabolizes quickly and is usually gone from the bloodstream within 10 minutes.

Murray kept no medical records of his treatments of Jackson.

Kain said it’s not every day that anesthesiologists have such a high-profile stage to discuss their craft, and both White and Shafer have represented the field well.

Murray’s case, through the testimony of two respected colleagues, should give the public a better understanding of anesthesiology, Kain said.

Jurors will undoubtedly have a better understanding of the drug when they begin deliberations later this week. Which of the professors’ theories they believe caused Jackson’s death could seal Murray’s fate.

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY

After weeks of hearing prosecutors and witnesses cast the physician charged in Michael Jackson’s death as a bad doctor, defense attorneys will shift the case to some of Dr. Conrad Murray’s positive traits as the case nears its close.

Murray’s defense team plans to call up to five character witnesses Wednesday who will likely speak about the Houston-based cardiologist’s care and life-saving abilities. The attorneys did not name the witnesses, but they are expected to be Murray’s patients.

The flurry of character witnesses come as defense attorneys wind down their case. They told a judge Tuesday that after the character witnesses, they will only call two experts to try to counter prosecution experts who said Murray acted recklessly by giving Jackson the anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid.

Defense attorneys could rest their case Thursday. They have already called nine witnesses, including a doctor and nurse practitioner who treated Jackson but refused his requests to help him obtain either an intravenous sleep aid or propofol.

Murray, 58, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He faces up to four years behind bars and the loss of his medical license if convicted.

His attorneys contend Jackson was desperate for sleep and gave himself the fatal dose of propofol when his doctor left the room. They attempted to argue that Jackson would have been indebted to concert promoter AEG Live for nearly $40 million if his shows were canceled, but a judge blocked any mention of the figure to the jury Tuesday.

Instead, jurors heard from two witnesses who knew Jackson and described their interactions with the singer in the months before his death.

Nurse Cherilyn Lee testified about trying to help Jackson gain more energy in early 2009 to prepare for rehearsals for his planned series of comeback concerts. She said the singer complained he couldn’t sleep, and on Easter Sunday asked her to help him obtain Diprivan, a brand name for propofol.

Lee, at times tearful, said she initially didn’t know about the drug. But after asking a doctor about it and reading a reference guide, Lee said she tried to convince Jackson it was too dangerous to use in his bedroom.

“He told me that doctors have told him it was safe,” Lee testified of Jackson’s request for the anesthetic. “I said no doctor is going to do this in your house.”

The singer, however, insisted that he would be safe as long as someone monitored him, she said.

By Murray’s own admission, he left Jackson’s bedside on the morning of his death. When he returned, Jackson was unresponsive, according to his interview with police two days after Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009.

The physician said he only left Jackson’s bedside for two minutes, although his own attorneys have suggested it might have been longer. Phone records show Murray made or received several calls in the hour before Murray summoned help.

Lee acknowledged that she told detectives that she had told Jackson, “No one who cared or had your best interest at heart would give you this.”

After refusing to help Jackson obtain propofol, she never saw the singer again.

Another defense witness, AEG Live President and CEO Randy Phillips, said Jackson appeared to have total confidence in Murray during meetings in early June, just a weeks before the “This Is It” concerts were to debut in London.

Jackson had missed some rehearsals and there were complaints from the show’s choreographer that the singer didn’t seem focused. A meeting was convened to discuss Jackson’s health, and Murray reassured Phillips and others that the singer was healthy and would be able to perform.

“It was very obvious that Michael had great trust” in Murray, Phillips said.

Phillips said he attended Jackson’s final rehearsal and was impressed.

“I had goose bumps,” he said, adding that wasn’t a typical reaction. “I am as cynical as you can be about this business.”

After the rehearsal, Phillips said he walked Jackson to his vehicle, which was waiting to take him to the rented mansion. “He said, ‘You got me here. Now I’m ready. I can take it from here,’” Phillips recounted.

By the time Jackson and security arrived at the home, Murray had already arrived at the house and was waiting to help the singer get to sleep.

The judge hearing the involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor says defense lawyers won’t be able to ask about the singer’s multimillion dollar contract for his final concert series.

Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor says allowing testimony about the contract might confuse jurors who will consider whether Dr. Conrad Murray’s actions caused Jackson’s June 2009 death.

Defense attorney Ed Chernoff told Pastor that introducing the contract was necessary to show that Jackson was desperate. Chernoff said Tuesday that Jackson would have been indebted to promoter AEG Live for nearly $40 million if the shows were canceled.

Chernoff contends that led Jackson to give himself a dose of the anesthetic propofol in a desperate attempt to sleep.

Prosecutors contend Murray, who has pleaded not guilty, gave the fatal dose.

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A nurse who treated Michael Jackson is expected to detail the singer’s requests for a powerful anesthetic when she resumes testifying Tuesday.

The first day of Dr. Conrad Murray’s defense case ended Monday without Cherilyn Lee describing her conversations with Jackson about propofol. Lee has said she repeatedly warned Jackson that using the drug as a sleep aid could kill him.

Authorities contend Murray gave Jackson a lethal dose of the surgical anesthetic. Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

Lee, a nurse practioner, is the sixth witness that Murray’s defense attorneys have called to try to counter four weeks of damaging testimony by prosecution witnesses.

Murray’s attorneys also plan to call Jackson’s makeup artist to testify Tuesday.

An expert in the powerful anesthetic blamed for Michael Jackson’s death has resumed testifying in the involuntary manslaughter trial of the singer’s personal physician.

Dr. Steven Shafer is being cross-examined by Dr. Conrad Murray’s lead defense attorney, Ed Chernoff. Shafer’s testimony is expected to conclude Monday and the defense will begin its case.

Chernoff questioned Shafer about models detailing the effects of the anesthetic propofol that show that the risk of a patient’s breathing stopping comes in the first few minutes after the drug is administered. Shafer agreed, but said it was hard to know exactly how propofol affected Jackson because he had other sedatives in his system and because he had been receiving propofol on a nightly basis for more than two months.

Murray has pleaded not guilty.

The judge overseeing the trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor says testimony in the case will resume Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor ordered the delay so that defense attorneys can get more details on test results that the coroner’s office recently conducted. The tests dealt with the levels of the sedative lorazepam that were found in Jackson’s body.

Attorneys for Murray have raised the issue of lorazepam levels and told jurors that the amounts were so high they could have put several people to sleep.

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren told Pastor that he asked for the coroner’s office to re-test for lorazepam levels and found that they were lower than the defense analysis suggested.

Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.