Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson’s ‘Captain EO’ Returns To Disneyland
by on Feb.25, 2010, under Michael Jackson
‘It was just like when I was 7, and it was amazing,’ one fan says after Tuesday’s premiere.
By Joel Hanek
Michael Jackson in “Captain EO”
Photo: Disney
After being sealed away in the Disney Vault for 13 years, Michael Jackson’s “Captain EO” saw the light of day on Tuesday at Disneyland.
Disney surprised Jackson fans earlier this week when it issued an announcement that the 1986 film would be returning to the Tomorrowland Theater. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by George Lucas, the 17-minute 3-D film reportedly cost $30 million to make — setting a record at the time for the most expensive short film ever made. The story follows EO (Jackson) on a journey with his fuzzy alien friends to deliver a gift to the evil Witch Queen (Anjelica Huston).
The feature originally ran exclusively in Disney parks from 1986 to 1997, closing four years after the pop star first faced child molestation allegations.
Interest in the futuristic sci-fi film was reinvigorated after the sudden passing of Michael Jackson last June, when fans began campaigning on Facebook for the movie’s return. According to Disney, more than 500 people (some in EO-inspired costumes) lined up to catch Tuesday’s 10 a.m. premiere. Some had even spent the night outside the gates in order to see the first screening.
“I loved it,” one fan commented. “I grew up on it, so I’m so excited that it’s back.”
Some of those who enjoyed “Captain EO” during its original run said they were excited to share the experience with a new generation.
“I absolutely loved it,” said one parent. “It was just like when I was 7, and it was amazing. I’m so glad I could bring my little one. She’s 3, and she loved it too — huge Michael Jackson fan!”
While Disneyland says “Captain EO” is running as a limited engagement, a spokesperson told KTLA that it will continue to play as long as it’s popular.
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.
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‘We Are The World’ Remake: Strong Chart Numbers But Little Radio Play
by on Feb.22, 2010, under Michael Jackson
Song’s high chart position largely due to downloads.
By Jayson Rodriguez, with additional reporting by Gil Kaufman
Wyclef Jean, Kanye West and Jennifer Hudson perform at the “We Are The World 25 Years for Haiti”
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage
When the original version of “We Are the World” was released 25 years ago, the all-star benefit song was a nearly inescapable presence — on radio, on MTV and on T-shirts. Thanks to the groundwork laid by England’s Band-Aid fundraiser “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” audiences were primed for a new kind of fundraiser that not only helped famine victims in Africa, but also provided a keepsake featuring some of the planet’s biggest musical acts singing a heartfelt anthem co-written by the then-biggest pop star on the planet, Michael Jackson.
Fast forward a quarter century to last week, when the video for the “We Are the World: 25 for Haiti” debuted to a huge audience at the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics.
While “We Are the World: 25 for Haiti” landed at #2
on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart last week (powered primarily by digital sales), lagging behind only newcomer Ke$ha’s breakout hit “Tik Tok,” more than a week after its release, the single’s airplay numbers aren’t nearly as strong.
According to Media Base, a company that tracks radio data, only five stations have added the track into their rotation in the past seven days, including Los Angeles’ KIIS-FM, one of the largest Top 40 outlets in the country. (By contrast, Rihanna’s latest, “Rude Boy,” was added by 48 different radio stations in the same period.)
“Personally, I came into work on Saturday (February 13) and purchased the track on iTunes and played it all weekend,” KIIS music director Julie Platt told MTV News in an e-mail. “KIIS-FM added it into regular rotation on Tuesday (February 16).”
Platt, however, noted that the record isn’t being pushed like a traditional new release. “It doesn’t have a record label distributing it or helping get the word to programmers like a normal single release,” she explained, noting that she didn’t receive a scaled-down radio edit of the eight-minute anthem until days after it was released.
In total, the song was played across the country 987 times in its first full week since it premiered, according to Media Base. Again, by comparison, “TiK ToK,” the most-played song in the country, received over 11,000 spins during the same time span: One doesn’t need a math degree to see that’s more than 10 times the spins.
Radio spins, physical sales and digital downloads together to account for the metrics used to determine a song’s success when it comes to the Hot 100 chart.
While “We Are the World: 25 for Haiti” has fared better on the charts so far than the original version of the song (which debuted at #21 in 1985 before gradually rising to #1), the comparison isn’t a fair one, given that radio charts moved much more slowly 25 years ago: Songs often debuted low and gradually rose higher, almost the complete opposite of charting behavior today.
“This [song] is not about airplay, which it won’t get a lot of. It’s about creating a viral hit on YouTube and Vevo, and maybe getting some traction at a few top 40 stations,” Keith Caulfield, the Senior Chart Manager/Anaylst for Billboard magazine, explained to MTV News.
Caulfied said because of the splintered nature of radio today and the abundance of niche markets, an ambitious song that seeks out to reach a large audience wouldn’t fare as well today as it did in the past.
The new song, for instance, was played on a Top 40 station in Kansas City, a “Rhymthic” station in Denver and an Alternative station in the Washington, DC, according to Media Base. Those spins, however, were extremely limited, with only 32 stations playing the song more than 10 times last week.
In New York, for example, “We Are the World 25: For Haiti” was played only a total of six times across various stations. Hot 107.9 in Indiana played it the most, spinning the song 44 times. SiriusXM, the subscription radio service, played the song just once within the last week.
Those numbers hardly qualify the “We Are the World” update as a radio hit. However, that was presumably not a major goal of the song’s organizers.
While reps for the song’s organizers had not responded to MTV News’ requests for comment at press time, the purpose of the new song was to raise money, Sirius radio show Shade 45’s senior producer Rob “Reef” Tewlow emphasized. And by that scale, he said, the new song is a success, radio spins or not.
“It’s for a great cause, you want to see it raise a lot of money, raise awareness, and help a lot of people, because that’s ultimately the goal,” Tewlow told MTV News. “It doesn’t have the same momentous impact as the original, nothing like that had ever been done before. And you had some of the biggest artists, Michael Jackson, first and foremost, as part of the track. Is this one something that everyone is talking about? Maybe not. But people are making contributions and downloading the song.”
Learn more about what you can do to help with earthquake-relief efforts in Haiti, and for more information, see Think MTV. Visit HopeForHaitiNow.org or call (877) 99-HAITI to make a donation now.
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Beyonce, ‘NSYNC, Outkast Top Decade-End Sales List
by on Feb.18, 2010, under Michael Jackson
RIAA list tallies top gold and platinum sellers between 2000 and 2009.
By Gil Kaufman
Beyoncé
Photo: Christopher Polk/ Getty Images
The years between 2000 and 2009 were very good for Beyoncé, ‘NSYNC, Michael Jackson and Nickelback, according to figures released by the Recording Industry Association of America on Wednesday. The music-industry trade association tallied gold (500,000) and platinum (1 million) certifications for the first decade of the 2000s, and those coming out at the top of the heap also include Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Linkin Park, Flo Rida and Lil Wayne.
The big winner, though, was Beyoncé, who topped all lists with the most total gold and platinum certifications at 64, which includes tallies for cumulative album, digital song, master ringtone and music video certifications. She was followed by classic rock act the Eagles, who had 48 total certifications, and the late Michael Jackson at 44.
The group category in total album certifications was led by Nickelback with 25. Britney Spears grabbed the top female solo artist category at 23, and country act George Strait snagged the male solo title with 29. The top digital song certifications belonged to Taylor Swift with 25, followed by Kanye West (19) and Linkin Park (13) in the group category. Beyoncé (19) edged out T.I. (15) in the most master ringtone certifications race. Flo Rida’s five-times platinum “Low” was the best-selling digital download of all time and Lil Wayne’s five-times platinum “Lollipop” was the highest certified ringtone ever.
The decade’s highest certified album sales award was a tie between ‘NSYNC’s No Strings Attached and Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below, which were both certified at 11-times platinum, equaled in the female solo artist category by Shania Twain’s Up! and just ahead of Usher’s Confessions, which topped the male solo artist race with a 10-times platinum score.
While Flo Rida set the record, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift both came close in the most certified digital song category, each going four-times platinum with, respectively, “Just Dance” and “Love Story.” Coldplay and the Fray took the group honors with “Viva La Vida” and “How to Save a Life,” respectively; both went three-times platinum.
Behind Wayne in the master ringtone section were Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” in the female solo slot at three-times platinum and D4L (”Laffy Taffy”), Hinder (”Lips of an Angel”) and the Shop Boyz (”Party Like a Rock Star”), who all hit three-times platinum in the group class.
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‘We Are The World’ Remake Includes Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie Reveals
by on Feb.13, 2010, under Michael Jackson
‘He had to be there,’ Richie says on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show.’
By Jayson Rodriguez
Lionel Richie on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” Friday
Photo: Harpo
Michael Jackson was an integral part of the first “We Are the World,” from co-writing the song to singing it alongside a gang of fellow celebrities. Twenty-five years later, and only hours before “We Are the World — 25 for Haiti” was set to premiere, Lionel Richie revealed on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” Friday (February 12) that the late King of Pop will be part of the remake’s song and video.
“He had to be there,” Richie told the talk-show host. “If you’re not gonna be there for the production, you still gotta be a part of it.”
Jackson’s vocals will lead the new all-star cast through the famous refrain on the song’s chorus, Richie said. And in the Paul Haggis-directed clip, archive footage of MJ singing from the original shoot will appear alongside his sister Janet Jackson in the new video.
“We have Michael singing that exact part [the chorus] and Janet singing along with him,” Richie said, describing the moment as “emotional.”
“We Are the World — 25 for Haiti” is scheduled to debut on NBC during the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The song was produced by frequent Lady Gaga collaborator RedOne and will feature a bevy of artists and actors, including Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Pink, Jennifer Hudson, Josh Groban and many others. The song will be available to purchase later, and all proceeds will go to the newly formed charity We Are the World Foundation LLC and will then be distributed to Haiti.
Learn more about what you can do to help with earthquake-relief efforts in Haiti, and for more information, see Think MTV. Visit HopeForHaitiNow.org or call (877) 99-HAITI to make a donation now.
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Michael Jackson Was Very Thin, Sickly Before Death, Autopsy Finds
by on Feb.09, 2010, under Michael Jackson
At the time of his death, Jackson was suffering from multiple ailments and using half a dozen medications.
By MTV News staff
Michael Jackson
Photo: Phil Klein/Reuters
Following the filing Monday of an involuntary-manslaughter charge against Conrad Murray in connection with the death of Michael Jackson, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office released its full autopsy report on the King of Pop, according to multiple reports.
The coroner concluded that Jackson died of “acute propofol intoxication” after Murray administered a dose of the powerful anesthetic sufficient for “major surgery.” Murray was using the drug to ease Jackson’s insomnia, but an expert cited in the autopsy said there were no reports about the use of propofol in insomnia relief. At no point was recommended equipment — from a controlled infusion pump for intravenous administration to monitoring machines — present in Jackson’s home when Murray gave the singer the tranquilizer.
The report also contained detailed information about the state of Jackson’s body after his death at age 50. At the time of the autopsy, he weighed 136 pounds, was measured at 5-foot-9 in length and was described as “extremely underweight for his frame.”
White patches of skin, the result of a pigmentation disorder called vitiligo, were present on his body, particularly his chest, abdomen, face and arms. The autopsy noted “frontal balding” on Jackson’s head and a bandage on the tip of his nose. He had dark tattoos close to each eyebrow and one pink tattoo close to his lips. His body was covered with small scars on his nose, knee, shoulder, neck and wrists.
The report concluded that at the time of his death, Jackson was suffering from “chronic lung inflammation, respiratory bronchiolitis, diffuse congestion and patchy hemorrhage of right and left lungs.” In addition to propofol, the autopsy discovered Jackson’s blood contained traces of lidocaine, diazepam, nordiazepam, lorazepam, midazolam and ephedrine.
During an arraignment hearing Monday, Murray pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.
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Michael Jackson’s Family Reacts To Conrad Murray’s Manslaughter Charge
by on Feb.09, 2010, under Michael Jackson
‘He’s lying. He’s guilty. Nobody was there but him,’ Katherine Jackson says.
By Gil Kaufman
Michael Jackson’s parents Katherine and Joe Jackson arrive to the Los Angeles Airport Courthouse on Monday
Photo: Gabriel Bouts/ Getty Images
After appearing together at Monday’s arraignment for Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s family issued a series of statements decrying the doctor’s not-guilty plea to the charge of involuntary manslaughter.
“He’s lying. He’s guilty. Nobody was there but him,” Jackson’s mother, Katherine, told the assembled media while leaving court. “He’s just trying to save his own behind. … He killed him. He wasn’t monitoring him.”
Murray, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, didn’t make a statement following his court appearance, during which he did not interact with the Jackson family members, according to reports. The Houston-based doctor is expected to leave Los Angeles after posting $75,000 bail.
“Dr. Murray is doing fine. … He’s in good spirits,” attorney Edward Chernoff said during a press conference after the hearing.
As one expert suggested in an interview with MTV News, it could be hard to find an impartial jury in Los Angeles, a reality Chernoff said he was ready to deal with. “It’s going to be tough, but I think if we get the right jury, the right result will come in,” he said. “This has been a nightmare for [Murray] for many different reasons, and one of the reasons is that he lost a friend.”
Murray was hired as Jackson’s personal physician several months before the singer was slated to leave for England to begin his planned 50-show residency comeback stint at the O2 arena. The cardiologist told investigators that he administered the surgical anesthetic propofol, as well as other tranquilizers, to Jackson several times in the hours leading up to his June 25 death. The coroner has ruled that the singer died of lethal levels of the drug. Murray obtained propofol legally, but is accused of negligence in the administration of the drug, a stance prosecutors came to after speaking with more than 10 medical experts.
Outspoken family patriarch Joe Jackson went on CNN’s “Larry King Live” following the hearing and called Murray a “fall guy” in a wider conspiracy. Speaking to King after attending the hearing with his estrange wife, five of his children and a number of grandchildren, Jackson reiterated, “I was looking for justice, and justice, to me, would be a murder charge.” According to legal experts, Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter because there was no proof the doctor purposely acted in a fashion intended to cause death or serious injury to his patient.
“To me, he’s just a fall guy,” Jackson claimed. “There’s other people, I think, involved with this whole thing. But I think that he’s interrogated — he would come clean and tell everything he knows.” According to Joe, Michael Jackson told his mother that he feared he would be killed in the lead-up to his London shows.
“He was afraid to even do all of these shows, because he was afraid that he wouldn’t get a chance to finish all of the show,” Joe Jackson said. “He couldn’t do all those shows back-to-back. Even his kids say that he had told them that he would be murdered.”
Sister La Toya Jackson issued a statement later in the day, which read, “Michael was murdered, and although he died at the hands of Dr. Conrad Murray, I believe Dr. Murray was a part of a much larger plan. There are other individuals involved, and I will not rest and I will continue to fight until all of the proper individuals are brought forth and justice is served.”
La Toya and Joe Jackson have not elaborated on their allegations and neither has named any other suspected conspirators. Police have not named any other suspects in Jackson’s death, after focusing almost exclusively on Murray during their nearly eight-month investigation.
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Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray: A Legal Timeline
by on Feb.08, 2010, under Michael Jackson
Murray pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in MJ’s death.
By Gil Kaufman and Larry Carroll
Dr. Conrad Murray
Photo: AFP/ Getty Images
The Michael Jackson saga took another dramatic turn Monday (February 8), as Dr. Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter, ending months of speculation on whether his personal physician would be held accountable for the pop icon’s death last June. Hours later, he would enter a not-guilty plea. As his legal team promised to “make bail, plead not guilty and fight like hell,” Murray faces a maximum of four years in prison.
Meanwhile, a legal expert told MTV News that the physician faces an uphill battle and predicted a difficult next few months. As his bail was set at $75,000, several members of the Jackson family looked on, with Joe Jackson later telling reporters, “We need justice.”
How did we get to this point? Here is a timeline of the Jackson death investigation.
Early June 2009: Murray, a physician with offices in Las Vegas and Houston, is hired by AEG Live to serve as Jackson’s personal physician several weeks before the pop star’s death, according to the Los Angeles Times. Jackson reportedly chose Murray, but AEG Live will pay his $150,000-a-month retainer.
June 22-23, 2009: According to a police affidavit, Murray attempts to wean Jackson off propofol by giving him a combination of anti-anxiety drugs and sedatives, seemingly helping Jackson get some rest without the propofol.
June 25, 2009: Jackson suffers cardiac arrest at his rented mansion in Holmby Hills, California. Murray reportedly tells police he found Jackson unresponsive and not breathing in Murray’s bedroom and that CPR did not revive the singer. Jackson’s death came after a typically fitful night of no sleep for the chronic insomniac, who relied on a cocktail of powerful sedatives to get to sleep.
June 26, 2009: Los Angeles Coroner’s office officials defer a cause of death in the Jackson case, pending further forensic tests.
June 28, 2009: Murray, whose car was impounded just days before as part of the probe into Jackson’s death, meets with LAPD detectives for the second time, providing information to aid the death investigation.
June 30, 2009: Coroner’s office officials pay a second visit to Jackson’s rented mansion to remove additional medical evidence from the residence.
July 2, 2009: The Drug Enforcement Administration joins the investigation into Jackson’s death, reportedly to look into Jackson’s doctors and the singer’s possible drug use prior to his death.
July 6, 2009: The Times reports that three search warrants on physicians who treated Jackson have been executed by the LAPD as part of their homicide investigation.
July 22, 2009: Police search Murray’s Houston office as part of a manslaughter investigation into Jackson’s death, taking away documents and images from a computer hard drive.
July 24, 2009: Murray’s spokesperson denies that he is a subject of a manslaughter investigation.
July 28, 2009: Police serve a search warrant on Murray’s Las Vegas home and office, carting away documents and evidence in their investigation. Among the items police seek in the searches are details about the many aliases Jackson allegedly used to obtain prescription medication.
August 11, 2009: The Coroner’s office completes its autopsy in the case, but puts the results on security hold in order to allow the LAPD to complete its criminal probe.
August 12, 2009: Officials from the DEA, Las Vegas police and LAPD execute a search warrant on Las Vegas’ Applied Pharmacy, in connection with the Jackson investigation. It is later revealed that Murray legally purchased propofol at the pharmacy.
August 18, 2009: Murray releases a one-minute video statement in which he addresses fans, friends and family, thanking them for their support and saying that because of the intense scrutiny of the case, he is afraid to return phone calls and e-mails.
August 24, 2009: Unsealed warrants from the Houston investigation reveal that Jackson had lethal levels of propofol in his system at the time of his death. Police rule the singer’s death a homicide.
January 8, 2010: The LAPD reportedly completes its investigation into Jackson’s death and is said to be preparing its case against Murray.
February 2, 2010: CNN reports that Murray is prepared to surrender to Los Angeles authorities in the Jackson case, if asked to do so.
February 8, 2010: Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter and pleads not guilty. An expert expects a difficult legal battle: “Everyone loves Michael Jackson, so it will be tough to find a jury without bias.”
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Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray Pleads Not Guilty
by on Feb.08, 2010, under Michael Jackson
Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter earlier in the day; bail was set at $75,000.
By Eric Ditzian
Dr. Conrad Murray arrives for his arraignment of at the Airport Los Angeles Courthouse today
Photo: Toby Canham/ Getty Images
Hours after Dr. Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Michael Jackson’s 2009 death, the embattled physician pleaded not guilty Monday afternoon (February 
during an arraignment hearing at a Los Angeles courthouse, according to The Associated Press.
Murray’s bail was set at $75,000, three times greater than the bail usually set for such crimes. Without being handcuffed, Murray was then taken into custody for booking. He must surrender his passport, allowing him to travel within the United States but not out of the country. Prosecutors had been seeking bail of $300,000, but Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz rejected that amount. The involuntary-manslaughter charge carries a maximum jail sentence of four years.
Speaking with reporters following the hearing, Ed Chernoff, Murray’s lawyer, said his client would not be talking to press. “He’s going to go home,” Chernoff said. “He’s going to go back to his family. He’s going to go back to his patients.”
Members of the Jackson family — including the singer’s parents, Joe and Katherine, sister La Toya and brothers Jermaine, Tito and Randy — were present during the hearing. Afterward the family made its way through a throng of fans and reporters outside the courthouse without making a formal comment to the press. “We need justice,” Joe announced at one point as he made his way to his vehicle, according to The New York Times.
During the hearing, Randy Jackson tweeted, “Sitting in court & I’m sad. Those profiting most from my bro’s death: AEG, Randy Phillips, Kenny Ortega, Estate Executors r nowhere in sight.”
“This charge is a slap on the wrist,” Brian Oxman, Joe Jackson’s lawyer, told People. “There’s great disappointment here. [Conrad Murray] should’ve been charged with a higher degree of responsibility. What he did was reckless. It was a disregard for human life.”
Earlier in the day, prosecutors filed a criminal complaint alleging Murray acted “unlawfully, and without malice [to] kill Michael Joseph Jackson” in administering the surgical anesthetic propofol and other tranquilizers to the singer. The coroner’s report has indicated that Murray gave Jackson a dose of propofol sufficient for “major surgery” and that the pop singer died of “acute propofol intoxication.”
Murray had been treating Jackson as the King of Pop prepared for a series of comeback concerts at London’s O2 arena. Murray told investigators that he administered the sedatives to Jackson several times in the hours leading up to his death and eventually discovered that Jackson was no longer breathing. The singer was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m. PT on June 25.
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Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray Faces An Uphill Battle, Expert Says
by on Feb.08, 2010, under Michael Jackson
‘Everyone loves Michael Jackson, so it will be tough to find a jury without bias,’ lawyer Shawn Chapman Holley tells MTV News.
By Gil Kaufman
Dr. Conrad Murray arrives for his arraignment on Monday
Photo: Frederick M. Brown/ Getty Images
Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, faces a steep uphill battle in fighting off the involuntary-manslaughter charges lodged against him Monday (February in Los Angeles. That’s according to L.A.-based attorney Shawn Chapman Holley, who told MTV News that the combination of the doctor’s discussions with police following Jackson’s death in June and the reported admission that he supplied the singer with the surgical anesthetic that the coroner’s office has said caused his demise make for a very difficult defense.
“I’m not surprised by the charge, no,” said Chapman Holley, who worked as part of the defense team for O.J. Simpson, as well as representing Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton, the Kardashian sisters, Reggie Bush and Tupac Shakur. (While Chapman Holley is not involved in the Murray case.) “It’s really the only thing it could have been. It’s the only charge under the heading of homicide that does not require an intent element.”
The district attorney’s office charged Murray on Monday, saying that the Houston-based cardiologist “did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson.” An arraignment was taking place at press time, where Murray was expected to turn himself in and enter a not-guilty plea. If convicted, Murray faces a possible four-year state prison term.
“There’s no question in my mind that he didn’t intend for Jackson to die or be hurt,” Chapman Holley said. “A murder charge would require that intent, but it becomes involuntary manslaughter when a defendant did something that posed a high possibility of death or grave injury. The issue will be whether or not administering the drugs he administered in the manner he did was likely to cause death or serious injury.”
Chapman Holley predicted that Murray’s legal team will mount a spirited defense based on a lot of expert medical testimony, which will include physicians who will say that what Murray did should not have caused injury or death and that his actions were not unreasonable. They will also likely bring up allegations that Murray was not the first physician or medical worker to provide Jackson with propofol or other sedatives. Murray has reportedly told investigators that he provided Jackson with the powerful anesthetic propofol several times in the hours leading up to the 50-year-old singer’s death in June as part of a nightly regimen of anesthetics and sedatives that the singer allegedly used to combat chronic insomnia.
One of the hardest factors for Murray’s defense team is the fact that the doctor spoke to investigators several times in the days after Jackson’s death, a move Chapman Holley said might have been ill-conceived. “You usually don’t want your client to talk to the police in order to not be locked into a timeline,” she said, suggesting that by giving investigators a minute-by-minute account of what he was doing prior to Jackson’s death, Murray might have committed himself to an account of events that he will not be able to deviate from. “People who feel like they didn’t do anything wrong naturally want to talk to the police, but it’s almost always not a good idea from a criminal-law standpoint. You lock yourself into that timeline, and the police are trying to build a case against you, so they act real nice, but really they just want to hear what happened as they’re gathering evidence against you.”
Another complicating factor will be finding a jury to try the case, which Chapman Holley said might actually be the most time-consuming part of the trial, which she predicted would likely last a month. “I’m not a doctor, but based on what I’ve heard, [what Murray did] sounds crazy. A jury won’t know either, so you’ll have these doctors coming in to testify of the risks of doing this, and while his experts will say there was not a tremendous risk, the DA’s experts will say there was,” she said. “Obviously, it did cause his death, but that’s not the question here. You have to look at what the person did and what they knew at the time. It’s almost like the outcome [of Murray's actions] are not irrelevant, but not really important to the case. Plus, everyone loves Michael Jackson, so it will be tough to find a jury without bias.”
The sight on Monday of a large portion of the Jackson clan going into the courtroom to watch the charging, coupled with the much-derided trip Murray took last week to mourn near Jackson’s grave in what was seen as a blatant plea for sympathy, will also likely make things hard on a defense team looking to change the tarnished image of the doctor.
Facing a possible two to four years in prison, Murray will probably be sentenced to the lesser term, Chapman Holley said, but she doubted he would emerge from the trial without serving some time. “He could get probation, but it doesn’t sound like there will be a plea in this case,” she said, noting the intense pressure on the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office to put together a very strong case in light of such difficult celebrity cases as the O.J. Simpson trial and the two Robert Blake murder trials.
“As I understand it, part of the reason the DA’s office took so long was because they really, really wanted to be sure the evidence was there to get a conviction,” she said, citing discussions with members of the DA’s office.
As for whether she would put Murray on the stand, Chapman Holley said if the defense’s medical experts did a good enough job, it wouldn’t be necessary. “But he seems like the kind of guy who wants to take the stand,” she said. A spokesperson for Murray’s lawyer, Edward Chernoff, said he would release a statement following Monday’s arraignment. Before the charge was filed, Chernoff said, according to The Associated Press, “We’ll make bail, we’ll plead not guilty and we’ll fight like hell.”
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Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter
by on Feb.08, 2010, under Michael Jackson
Prosecutors file complaint stating physician acted ‘unlawfully and without malice.’
By Eric Ditzian
Dr. Conrad Murray (file)
Photo: AFP/ Getty Images
Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, was charged on Monday (February with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the pop star’s death on June 25, The Associated Press reports.
Murray, who was with the singer during his final hours, is alleged to have acted “unlawfully, and without malice [to] kill Michael Joseph Jackson,” according to the criminal complaint filed by prosecutors. Murray is expected to surrender to authorities later today. If convicted, Murray faces a maximum of four years in prison.
“We’ll make bail, we’ll plead not guilty and we’ll fight like hell,” Ed Chernoff, Murray’s lawyer, told reporters before the charge was filed.
Following a lengthy investigation into Jackson’s death by Los Angeles police officials and the findings of the county coroner’s office, the involuntary manslaughter charge was long predicted. The charge was expected to be filed last week, but negotiations between Murray’s lawyers and prosecutors broke down over the issue of Murray’s plans to surrender. An announcement that charges would be filed on Monday was made last Friday (February 5).
Murray, who was treating Jackson as the singer geared up to launch a series of comeback concerts in London, told investigators that he administered the surgical anesthetic propofol, as well as other tranquilizers, to Jackson several times in the hours leading up to his death. The coroner has ruled that the singer died of lethal levels of the drug. Murray obtained propofol legally, according to the AP, but is accused of negligence in the administration of the drug, a stance prosecutors came to after speaking with more than 10 medical experts.
The complaint says that Murray told investigators he gave Jackson propofol at 11 a.m. on the day of his death and then left the room to use the bathroom. The chain of events that followed are disputed. While Murray told officials he returned from the bathroom to find Jackson no longer breathing and that he tried to revive the singer, a call to 911 was not made until 12:21 p.m. During that time, Murray made many non-emergency calls. Murray’s lawyer, however, says that Murray misspoke during his interview with prosecutors and that the doctor did not discover Jackson until about 12 p.m.
Murray is expected to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. PT. According to TMZ, bail will be set at $25,000. Murray is expected to arrive before the arraignment with lawyers and a bail bondsman.
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