Michael Jackson Death Hoax Investigators
Latest News => Michael Jackson News => Topic started by: darkchild on January 02, 2011, 10:06:09 PM
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 3689.story (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-michael-jackson-20110103,0,4373689.story)
Court to hear details of Michael Jackson's death
At a preliminary hearing Tuesday, the prosecution plans to detail its case against Dr. Conrad Murray, the singer's personal physician.
By Harriet Ryan, Los Angeles Times
January 3, 2011
A year and a half after Michael Jackson's heart stopped beating in a bedroom of his rented Holmby Hills mansion, prosecutors are due in court Tuesday to present evidence that the pop star's $150,000-a-month personal physician caused his death.
The preliminary hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court will determine whether authorities have a strong-enough involuntary manslaughter case to try Dr. Conrad Murray, a cardiologist who has acknowledged administering a dangerous anesthetic blamed in Jackson's death.
Such hearings are typically pro forma proceedings in which homicide prosecutors call only a police detective and a coroner to relate the basic facts of the case.
But for Murray's hearing, which is expected to unfold before a courtroom crowded with Jackson's relatives and fans as well as reporters, prosecutors have said they plan to call as many as 35 witnesses for testimony that will last at least two weeks.
Those summoned to the stand are expected to include medical experts and investigators as well as the security guards and staff who were around the doctor and his famous patient in the days and hours leading up to Jackson's death on June 25, 2009.
Prosecutors David Walgren and Deborah Brazil declined to discuss their reasons for such an involved preliminary hearing, but a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said it was necessary given the complexities of a case that took homicide detectives and prosecutors seven months to build.
"We have to be able to prove the elements of the crime, and merely to call the coroner to say that a person died is not proving a crime," said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Involuntary manslaughter refers to a killing done without malice. At trial, prosecutors would need to show that Murray caused Jackson's death either in the commission of a crime not rising to a felony or by acting "without due caution and circumspection."
The level of proof required at a preliminary hearing — sufficient cause — is much lower than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard required for a conviction. Prosecutors must demonstrate only enough evidence to lead a "person of ordinary caution or prudence" to have a "strong suspicion" the defendant is guilty.
A lawyer for Murray, Joseph Low IV, said that given the low bar, he would be surprised if Judge Michael Pastor did not order his client to trial.
"I don't anticipate this is the type of case that the D.A. won't have facts to support the couple of elements necessary for this charge," he said.
But, he said, the extensive hearing had an upside for Murray's defense: the opportunity to talk to prosecution witnesses, including the security guards and some investigators.
Cross-examination "is our first access to a lot of these individuals," he said.
State law allows prosecutors to streamline preliminary hearings by having police officers summarize witness accounts, but former L.A. homicide prosecutor Truc Do said she was not surprised that prosecutors in such a high-profile case were opting for a "full-blown rather than bare-bones" hearing with dozens of live witnesses.
"You want the opportunity to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your witnesses and to see how they do under cross-examination," said Do, who prosecuted record producer Phil Spector for murder in the death of actress Lana Clarkson. She added that getting potentially skittish witnesses — such as those from Jackson's inner circle — under oath would be crucial in case they later fled the jurisdiction.
"You may have a concern about loyalties or people who don't necessarily want to cooperate and might become unavailable," she said.
Additionally, an overwhelming display of evidence might push Murray to consider a plea, Do said. "It can be sort of a reality check," she said.
Much of the testimony is likely to concern Murray's use of the powerful surgical anesthetic propofol to treat Jackson's chronic insomnia. The coroner listed the cause of death as "acute propofol intoxication." Propofol is not approved for sleep disorders or home use, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it is so dangerous that only a trained anesthesiologist should administer it.
Murray, 57, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, has pleaded not guilty. He has said he gave Jackson a small amount of propofol the morning of his death but said through his lawyers that it should not have caused death.
Low declined to elaborate on Murray's defense, but comments at a hearing last week concerning scientific testing of evidence suggested the defense might argue that Jackson injected himself with a large and ultimately fatal amount of propofol.
"I think it's clear they're operating under the theory that the victim in this case, Michael Jackson, killed himself," prosecutor Walgren said.
A defense lawyer at the hearing, J. Michael Flanagan, would not say whether the prosecutor was correct, but he told the judge that the question of who injected the propofol was "the issue in the case."
Defense attorney Ellyn Garofalo, who recently won acquittal for a physician charged with overprescribing drugs to Anna Nicole Smith, said the defense is wise to reveal as little as possible about its strategy at the preliminary hearing.
"Why let the prosecution see your witnesses? Why let them see your defense? Why educate them?" she said.
Low said the defense has a witness list but will not decide whether to use it until after the prosecution's case is presented.
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Times staff writer Victoria Kim contributed to this report.
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I wonder if any of this hearing will be televised.
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I wonder what time it starts cause I am planning to go. I don't go and wait for hours or be late. Any idea?
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Low said the defense has a witness list but will not decide whether to use it until after the prosecution's case is presented.
I wonder who this witness is.
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I'm having trouble deciding how 'real' this court case is.
Who would MJ have to have on his side in order not to be in serious trouble for wasting police/judge/court's time when/if he reveals he's not dead?
But then again, if his objective is to expose the extremely dark side of Hollywood and the music business, maybe he could've got someone 'high up' to support him and clear the way.
I really don't know - I'm still just watching!
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This whole thing reqires such an immense bending of the mind for me. I mean, I have hated Murray for almost 18 months- now, part of my brain is having to entertain the idea that he is not "real" and he is not one of the people responsible.
Unless, as I keep fearing in some weak moments, the hoax was a plan (there is no doubt in my mind that Michael planned to do this), but then was somehow double crossed and now the "hoax" is a hoax used to cover up his murder.
But I guess that is one of the lessons- have a flexible mind, be open, and question, question, question....
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I keep venturing to the possibility as well that the hoax is for a murder cover up purpose but my husband keeps saying why on earth would anyone need to go to these extremes and make up something like Propofol, drum up a nim wit like Murray and all of this. If someone wanted Michael dead, it would have raised less suspicion to just off him right out by a pro or have him OD on something more likely, like a narcotic. The general public is buying the current garbage anyway so no questions would have been asked and this would all have been over yesterday. But with all of the Jackson family oddities and them never once telling us to cease in our investigating, the snickering on Larry King etc...it must be Michael pulling these strings.
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A police and forensic will be called, i wonder who is going to say the police if the first to enter the house was the family. :?
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These next couple of weeks are huge that's for sure. Piece by piece...
And let's keep the Jackson Family in our thoughts and prayers. No matter how you look at the hoax this family has gone through so much.
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this is the update on the "official" page of Murray's legal team:
January 2, 2011
Dr. Conrad Murray’s legal team, including lead attorney Ed Chernoff, Michael Flanagan and Joseph Low will be in court January 4 for the beginning of the preliminary hearing. The team will not be conducting any media interviews before or during the preliminary hearing. We expect the hearing to last two weeks.
Dr. Murray’s legal defense team will not be commenting in the press on any issues brought up by the prosecution during the preliminary hearing.
http://houstoncriminallaw-pressroom.com ... ry-2-2011/ (http://houstoncriminallaw-pressroom.com/2011/01/02/january-2-2011/)
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Everything else has been "talked" about. Why not this :evil:
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I'm having trouble deciding how 'real' this court case is.
Who would MJ have to have on his side in order not to be in serious trouble for wasting police/judge/court's time when/if he reveals he's not dead?
I'm asking myself the same question.
If he doesn't come back now I really don't know what to believe anymore.
I just can't imagine the court is involved in this. It's a system that noone can play with IMHO.
I'm confused, very confused right now ... :?
(http://i46.tinypic.com/2ebaamu.jpg)
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I'm asking myself the same question.
If he doesn't come back now I really don't know what to believe anymore.
I just can't imagine the court is involved in this. It's a system that noone can play with IMHO.
I'm confused, very confused right now ... :?
I know, I understand what you say. I've been thinking about this since the beginning.
But there is something that we simply don't know, which is U.S. world. At least we who are from Europe, who live here. I see you're from Netherlands, and I am also from Europe, and if you think about how this situation could ever be possible from here, it seems impossible. Europe is very different. I don't know everything about U.S., but I do think and believe it's a different world than here. There must be a reason why it's called "the American dream". Things in U.S. are possible while here we don't even have the notion of. And as long as I don't know the whole system and laws there, I can't speculate comparing with the system we have here.
This is what I think. We simply don't know, and we are not (and no one else is) Michael Jackson. This man can't be compared with any other human being on this earth, he is larger than Universe, and I am being serious. Just imagine who he is. Indeed there's a system that no one plays with, even if you are Michael Jackson, but we don't know if he's playing with it. We are not there. There's a courtain we don't see beyond of.
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I'm asking myself the same question.
If he doesn't come back now I really don't know what to believe anymore.
I just can't imagine the court is involved in this. It's a system that noone can play with IMHO.
I'm confused, very confused right now ... :?
I know, I understand what you say. I've been thinking about this since the beginning.
But there is something that we simply don't know, which is U.S. world. At least we who are from Europe, who live here. I see you're from Netherlands, and I am also from Europe, and if you think about how this situation could ever be possible from here, it seems impossible. Europe is very different. I don't know everything about U.S., but I do think and believe it's a different world than here. There must be a reason why it's called "the American dream". Things in U.S. are possible while here we don't even have the notion of. And as long as I don't know the whole system and laws there, I can't speculate comparing with the system we have here.
This is what I think. We simply don't know, and we are not (and no one else is) Michael Jackson. This man can't be compared with any other human being on this earth, he is larger than Universe, and I am being serious. Just imagine who he is. Indeed there's a system that no one plays with, even if you are Michael Jackson, but we don't know if he's playing with it. We are not there. There's a courtain we don't see beyond of.
Thanks for your response Anna ... ;)
Maybe you're right. I indeed look at the courtcase from a European site and know little about the US-site. One should think the system can't be played with all over the world.
Maybe people from de US can answer this question better than we Europeans ... ;)
(http://i46.tinypic.com/2ebaamu.jpg)
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Make sure we are not basing our info on photos and news of what's going on "in court". If we are not in there to actually see the judge and hear the judge face to face and the the same goes for all of the other "parties...witnesses etc..." then remember it can still all be a big fat MOVIE. Take nothing at face value. Until I have proof otherwise it's all just Murray jogging on the beach to me.
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I know a couple of fans who plan to be there. What if anything I learn, I'll pass on.
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The system was already played with when Zonen and Sneddon created a court case after Zonen confirmed prior to the allegations that the accusations was in his words "An obvious shakedown of Michael Jackson."
In all honesty the court and law system has been played with many, many times by small and lesser known individuals and yes even celebrities.
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Let's be careful with words.
We wouldn't want them prove otherwise.
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These next couple of weeks are huge that's for sure. Piece by piece...
And let's keep the Jackson Family in our thoughts and prayers. No matter how you look at the hoax this family has gone through so much.
Yes, we should do that.
The media frenzy already has begun in Europe with TV "Breakfast" news about the hearing.
They are repeating the same ... again and again - without ANY questioning.
Hold on, fasten your seat belts, the coming weeks will be a huge mess...
I had to laugh so hard - was a great wake-up this morning :lol: thanks, it's priceless!
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I'm tired.... :? :(
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this is the update on the "official" page of Murray's legal team:
January 2, 2011
Dr. Conrad Murray’s legal team, including lead attorney Ed Chernoff, Michael Flanagan and Joseph Low will be in court January 4 for the beginning of the preliminary hearing. The team will not be conducting any media interviews before or during the preliminary hearing. We expect the hearing to last two weeks.
Dr. Murray’s legal defense team will not be commenting in the press on any issues brought up by the prosecution during the preliminary hearing.
http://houstoncriminallaw-pressroom.com ... ry-2-2011/ (http://houstoncriminallaw-pressroom.com/2011/01/02/january-2-2011/)
i don't know if this means anything, but i looked up the significance of january 18th (2 weeks from the 4th):
- 1996 Lisa Marie filed for divorce from Michael
-1993 Martin Luther King Jr Day was observed by all 50 states for the first time (the holiday is usually the 3rd monday of january...falling on the 17th this year)
-1964 Beatles first appear on Billboard Chart -#35 "I want to hold your hand"
-1964 Plans for the World Trade Center announced
-1949 "They Stand Accused" courtroom drama premiers on CBS (later DuMont)
---Broadcast history
The series ran from September 11, 1949 to October 5, 1952 and from September 9 to December 30, 1954.[1]
It was a crime drama held in a courtroom presided over by attorney Charles Johnston. The program was broadcast live from Chicago's WGN-TV; jurors were chosen from the studio audience.[2] On most DuMont affiliates, They Stand Accused aired Sunday at 9 PM during the 1949-1952 television seasons, and Thursday at 8 PM during 1954. Though it was one of the DuMont Network's longest-running series, They Stand Accused was finally cancelled in December 1954.
-1644 Pilgrims in Boston reported America's first UFO sighting
i figured since dates are important, maybe there's something behind the supposed "end" date of the prelim.
more on this date---http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/january_18.html
i don't know if this information is even relevant, but it's interesting.
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I know a couple of fans who plan to be there. What if anything I learn, I'll pass on.
I have a girlfriend who was in court during the hearing early 2010, I´ll inform you if I get any news from her about her being there this time.