Houston patients of Michael Jackson doctor watch trial in dismay, angerElease Lewis speaks quietly, but passionately about her longtime doctor, a man she remembers engaging in lengthy conversations about her health, a physician who opened a clinic in a poor neighborhood to honor his father.
Just listening to her, you’d never guess the doctor she’s talking about is also the man charged in the death of pop star Michael Jackson.
“It hurts me to my heart,” Lewis said. “I mean, I’m in pain. It makes me get on my knees and pray.”
Dr. Conrad Murray has decided against testifying at his own trial, so he won’t speak for himself in court. But as much of the rest of the world sees only the man prosecutors charged with manslaughter in the death of one of the most popular celebrities of our time, patients treated by Murray see him as a humanitarian who saved lives with a practice dedicated to impoverished Houstonians. They’re watching his trial with a mix of sorrow, dismay and anger.
“I’m upset,” said Rev. Floyd N. Williams, pastor of the Missionary Antioch Baptist Church. “I’m mad as hell, because to see a brother have to go through what this man is going through is like sending a signal to the rest of us that, ‘Hell, y’all better be ready. You can’t go nowhere unless we say so.'"
Murray’s patients generally talk only with the consent of his legal team. One of them, Ruby Mosley, testified as a character witness at his trial last week, but she said attorneys advised her against doing any interviews.
However, other patients gathered at his church, led by his pastor, to speak on his behalf before television cameras.
“I see this trial and I feel so sorry for him, because he’s being beat up so much,” said Ransom Craddick, one of the many patients who credit Murray with saving his life. “And he can’t say nothing. And he’s tired.”
They leapt to Murray’s defense because they consider his prosecution unjust. His pastor placed two glasses of water on a table, pointing to a nearly full glass and saying “That’s Michael Jackson.” Then he added water to the glass until it overflowed and said, “That’s Doctor Murray.” His implication was clear: Michael Jackson was a drug addict spiraling downward when Murray arrived on the scene.
“I feel if anybody should be on the stand it ought to be all that Jackson family that let him stayed on drugs forever,” said Eliza Robinson, another one of Murray’s patients. “And then Dr. Murray come along and tried to save his life.”
All of them consider Murray a compassionate neighborhood hero. They talk about him giving scholarship money to local students. And more than anything else, they talk about how he opened a clinic in their low-income neighborhood to honor his father.
“He said, ‘I’m going to Acres Home. And in Acres Home I’m going to set up a legacy for my father,’” Williams said. “We pay him with Medicare. We don’t write big checks.”
So on Thursday, they will watch the closing arguments in Murray’s trial. And some of them say they’ll pray for the doctor on trial in the death of Michael Jackson.
You are not allowed to view links.
Register or
Login