Jackson's Doctor Cooperates With LAPD, Reveals Circumstances Leading To His Death

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LOS ANGELES - The cardiologist who was with Michael Jackson during the pop star's final moments sat down with investigators for the first time to explain his actions — and left three hours later as a witness, not a suspect.

Dr. Conrad Murray "helped identify the circumstances around the death of the pop icon and clarified some inconsistencies," Murray's spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik said in a statement Saturday. "Investigators say the doctor is in no way a suspect and remains a witness to this tragedy."

Murray, a physician with a tangled financial and personal history who was hired to accompany Jackson on his planned summer concert tour, reportedly performed CPR until paramedics arrived. The pop star was declared dead later at UCLA Medical Center.

Police confirmed that they interviewed Murray, adding that he was cooperative and "provided information which will aid the investigation."

The interview took place on a busy day when one of Jackson's lawyers was chosen to represent the family's legal interests and celebrities descended on Los Angeles for a star-studded public celebration of the King of Pop's life.

L. Londell McMillan, who represented Jackson last year in a breach of contact lawsuit and has advised high-profile clients such as Prince, was picked to help the family by Katherine Jackson, the singer's mother, said a person who requested anonymity because the matter is private.

"Abnormal":

The legal move came as the Rev. Jesse Jackson revealed that Michael Jackson's family wanted a second, private autopsy of the pop superstar because of unanswered questions about how he died.

"It's abnormal," Jesse Jackson said from Chicago a day after visiting the Jackson family. "We don't know what happened. Was he injected and with what? All reasonable doubt should be addressed."

The second autopsy was completed Saturday at the family's request, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Saturday evening, quoting unnamed sources.

People close to Jackson have said since his death that they were concerned about his use of painkillers. Los Angeles County medical examiners completed their autopsy Friday and said Jackson had taken prescription medication.

Medical officials also said there was no indication of trauma or foul play. An official cause of death could take weeks.

There was no word from the Jackson family on funeral plans. Many of Jackson's relatives have gathered at the family's Encino compound, caring there for Jackson's three children.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said Saturday he had spoken with Jackson's brothers Jackie and Jermaine and plans to meet with the family Sunday at their request. The family is considering a series of simultaneous global celebrations and other ideas as they decide how to commemorate the life of the King of Pop, he says.

Sharpton says the family is frustrated that so much of the media attention has focused on Michael Jackson's problems. They want to make sure he's remembered for his spectacular contributions to music and culture.

Questions around children:

It remains unclear who Jackson designated as potential guardians for his children. Those details — likely contained in the 50-year-old singer's will — have not been released.

An attorney for Deborah Rowe, the mother of Jackson's two oldest children, issued a statement Saturday asking that the Jackson family "be able to say goodbye to their loved one in peace."

Sisters Janet and La Toya arrived Saturday at the mansion Jackson had been renting and left without addressing reporters. Moving vans also showed up at the Jackson home, leaving about an hour later. There was no indication what they might have taken away.

The Jackson family issued a statement Saturday expressing its grief over the death and thanking his supporters.

"In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter," said the statement made through People magazine. "We miss Michael endlessly."

"They're hurt because they lost a son. But the wound is now being kept open by the mystery and unanswered questions of the cause of death," he said.

Organizers of the annual BET awards show — which recognizes the best in music, acting and sports — scrambled to revamp Sunday's show to honor Jackson and his legacy.

Previously announced acts, such as Beyonce and Ne-Yo, hoped to change their planned performances to honor Jackson, said producer Stephen Hill. Other artists who hadn't planned to attend the ceremony, including Usher and Justin Timberlake, tried to catch last-minute flights to Los Angeles to participate.

A person close to the family told The Associated Press they feel upset and angry about a lack of information about those who were around the pop superstar in his final days. The person requested anonymity because of the delicate nature of the situation.

Jackson never communicated to his family who he had in place to handle his business affairs, the person said, adding that they were told by the singer’s phalanx of advisers that he likely had a will, but it may be many years old. The family is distrustful of what they are being told — but they are determined to find out more, the person said.

“There are decisions going down without the family being in the loop; it’s becoming an issue,” the person said.

Randy Phillips, AEG Live president and chief executive, said earlier Friday that it was Jackson who insisted that Murray, a financially troubled cardiologist who was with the entertainer when he collapsed Thursday, be put on the tour payroll.

Jackson had been rehearsing for 50 London concerts aimed at restoring his crown as the King of Pop. He died Thursday at age 50 after what his family said appeared to be cardiac arrest.

Desperate 911 call:

A 911 call from Jackson's rented home reported that his personal doctor was trying to revive him without success.

An emergency dispatch call released by fire officials shed light on the desperate effort at the mansion to save Jackson's life before paramedics arrived Thursday afternoon.

In the recording, an unidentified caller pleads with authorities to send help, offering no clues about why Jackson was stricken. He tells a dispatcher that Jackson's doctor is performing CPR.

"He's pumping his chest," the caller says, "but he's not responding to anything."

Asked by the dispatcher whether anyone saw what happened, the caller answers: "No, just the doctor, sir. The doctor has been the only one there."


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Sources: MSNBC, LA Times, Google Maps

Jackson's Family Requests Second Autopsy, Jackson's Doctor Hires A Lawyer

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LOS ANGELES - A second autopsy on Michael Jackson's body was completed Saturday at the family's request, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Saturday evening, quoting unnamed sources.

The newspaper didn't report what had been found in the autopsy, which it said was completed by a private pathologist.

Earlier Saturday, the civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson said the pop star's family wanted a private autopsy because of unanswered questions about how he died and the doctor who was with him.

"It's abnormal," he told The Associated Press from Chicago a day after visiting the Jackson family. "We don't know what happened. Was he injected and with what? All reasonable doubt should be addressed."

People close to Jackson have said since his death that they were concerned about the superstar's use of painkillers. Los Angeles County medical examiners completed an autopsy Friday and said Jackson had taken prescription medication.

Medical officials also said there was no indication of trauma or foul play. An official cause of death could take weeks.

Los Angeles police on Saturday again interviewed the star's personal doctor, Conrad Murray, in the presence of a lawyer from a Houston-based law firm hired by the cardiologist. A spokeswoman for Murray, Miranda Sevcik, said in a statement late Saturday that Murray had "clarified some inconsistencies" surrounding Jackson's death.

"Dr. Murray has been in Los Angeles since the death of Mr. Jackson," the statement said. "He rode in the ambulance to the hospital and stayed at the hospital for hours comforting and consoling the Jackson family. Investigators say the doctor is in no way a suspect and remains a witness to this tragedy."

The coroner's office released the body to Jackson's family Friday night. There was no immediate word on whether the second autopsy was being performed right away. Jesse Jackson described the family as grief-stricken.

"They're hurt because they lost a son. But the wound is now being kept open by the mystery and unanswered questions of the cause of death," he said.

Two days after Jackson died at a Los Angeles hospital, his most famous sister, Janet, arrived at the mansion Jackson had been renting. She drove up in a Bentley and left without addressing reporters.

Moving vans also showed up at the Jackson home, leaving about an hour later. There was no indication what they might have taken away.

The Jackson family issued a statement Saturday expressing its grief over the death and thanking his supporters.

"In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter," said the statement made through People magazine. "We miss Michael endlessly."

The Jackson family did not respond to a request for comment from the AP.

There was also no word from the family on funeral plans. Many of Jackson's relatives have gathered at the family's Encino compound, caring there for Jackson's three children.

Sharpton: Family considers commemoration:

The Rev. Al Sharpton said Saturday he had spoken with Michael Jackson's brothers Jackie and Jermaine and plans to meet with the family Sunday at their request. The family is considering a series of simultaneous global celebrations and other ideas as they decide how to commemorate the life of the King of Pop, he says.

Sharpton says the family is frustrated that so much of the media attention has focused on Michael Jackson's problems. They want to make sure he's remembered for his spectacular contributions to music and culture.

A person close to the family told The Associated Press they feel upset and angry about a lack of information about those who were around the pop superstar in his final days. The person requested anonymity because of the delicate nature of the situation.

Jackson never communicated to his family who he had in place to handle his business affairs, the person said, adding that they were told by the singer’s phalanx of advisers that he likely had a will, but it may be many years old. The family is distrustful of what they are being told — but they are determined to find out more, the person said.

“There are decisions going down without the family being in the loop; it’s becoming an issue,” the person said.

Randy Phillips, AEG Live president and chief executive, said earlier Friday that it was Jackson who insisted that Dr. Conrad Murray, a financially troubled cardiologist who was with the entertainer when he collapsed Thursday, be put on the tour payroll.

Jackson had been rehearsing for 50 London concerts aimed at restoring his crown as the King of Pop. He died Thursday at age 50 after what his family said appeared to be cardiac arrest.

Desperate 911 call
A 911 call from Jackson's rented home reported that his personal doctor was trying to revive him without success.

An emergency dispatch call released by fire officials shed light on the desperate effort at the mansion to save Jackson's life before paramedics arrived Thursday afternoon. Jackson died later at UCLA Medical Center.

In the recording, an unidentified caller pleads with authorities to send help, offering no clues about why Jackson was stricken. He tells a dispatcher that Jackson's doctor is performing CPR.

"He's pumping his chest," the caller says, "but he's not responding to anything."

Asked by the dispatcher whether anyone saw what happened, the caller answers: "No, just the doctor, sir. The doctor has been the only one there."

Doctor hires a law firm:

Murray has not spoken publicly since Jackson's death. Police towed his car from Jackson's home hours after Jackson died and said later it could contain medication or other evidence. Coroner's officials also said Jackson was taking prescription medication but declined to elaborate.

A lawyer at a Houston firm, William M. Stradley, confirmed Murray had hired his firm and said one of its partners was meeting with Los Angeles police on Saturday. Stradley said Murray accompanied Michael Jackson to the hospital.

"He was there from the beginning and he's been cooperating with police from the very beginning," Stradley said. "Dr. Murray has never left L.A. since Mr. Jackson's death, and he remains there."

Murray lives in Las Vegas but apparently left his practice and moved in with Jackson about two weeks ago. No one answered the door Saturday at his Las Vegas home, which property records show Murray bought five years ago for $1.1 million.

The promoter of the series of London concerts that Jackson was to begin next month has said Jackson personally insisted Murray be on the payroll.

Also Saturday, spiritual teacher Dr. Deepak Chopra said he had been concerned since 2005 that Jackson was abusing prescription painkillers and most recently spoke to the pop star about suspected drug use six months ago.

Chopra said Jackson, a longtime friend, asked him for painkillers in 2005 when the singer was staying with him following his trial on sex abuse allegations. Chopra said he refused. He also said the nanny of Jackson's children repeatedly contacted him with concerns about Jackson's drug use over the next four years.

He said she told him a number of doctors would visit Jackson's homes in Santa Barbara County, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. Whenever the subject came up, Jackson would avoid his calls, Chopra said.

Jackson's health had been known to be precarious in recent years, and one family friend said Friday that he had warned the entertainer's family about his use of painkillers.

"I said one day we're going to have this experience. And when Anna Nicole Smith passed away, I said we cannot have this kind of thing with Michael Jackson," Brian Oxman, a former Jackson attorney and family friend, told NBC's TODAY. "The result was I warned everyone, and lo and behold, here we are. I don't know what caused his death. But I feared this day, and here we are."

Oxman claimed Jackson had prescription drugs at his disposal to help with pain suffered when he broke his leg after he fell off a stage and for broken vertebrae in his back.

The worldwide wave of mourning for Jackson continued unabated for the man who revolutionized pop music and moonwalked his way into entertainment legend.

"My heart, my mind are broken," said Elizabeth Taylor, who was one of Jackson's closest friends and married one of her husbands at a lavish wedding at the pop star's Neverland Ranch in 1991. She said she had heard the news as she was preparing to travel to London for Jackson's comeback show, and added, "I can't imagine life without him."

Tributes:

Hundreds made a pilgrimage to the Jackson family's compound in Los Angeles, leaving flowers and messages of love. They did the same at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and at the home in Los Angeles' Holmby Hills where Jackson was stricken. Some camped out overnight.

In New York, people stopped at Harlem's Apollo Theater, where Jackson had performed as a child with his brothers in one of rock's first bubblegum supergroups, the Jackson 5.

Diana Ross, the former lead singer of the Supremes who introduced the Jackson 5 at their debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1969, said she could not stop crying. "I am unable to imagine this," she said. "My heart is hurting."

His two ex-wives both said they were devastated. One of them, Lisa Marie Presley, posted a long, emotional statement on her MySpace page in which she said her ex-husband had confided to her 14 years ago that he feared dying young and under tragic circumstances, just as her father, Elvis Presley, had.

"I promptly tried to deter him from the idea, at which point he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded almost matter of fact as if to let me know, he knew what he knew and that was kind of that," Presley said.

Presley's father, the King of Rock 'n' Roll to Jackson's King of Pop, died in 1977 at age 42 of a drug-related death.

Sources: MSNBC

M. Jackson's Doctor Debt-Ridden & Needed Money, Owed $400,000. In Court Judgments

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Could Jackson's doctor be charged with contributing to his mysterious, premature death?

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Spiritual Adviser Deepak Chopra speaks of his friendship with Michael Jackson and having previously warned Michael about his prescription drug habit.

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LOS ANGELES - Elvis had one. So did Anna Nicole Smith and Marilyn Monroe. They are the doctors who cater to celebrities, dispensing powerful painkillers and sedatives to some of Hollywood's best-known entertainers.

Now, as police investigate Michael Jackson's sudden death, questions are swirling around the King of Pop's personal cardiologist and his actions in the superstar's final days.

Dr. Conrad Murray reportedly was with Jackson when he stopped breathing Thursday and performed CPR until paramedics arrived. An ambulance crew worked on Jackson at his home for 42 minutes before rushing him to UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Los Angeles police on Saturday again interviewed Murray in the presence of a lawyer from a Houston-based law firm hired by the cardiologist. A spokeswoman for Murray, Miranda Sevcik, said in a statement late Saturday that Murray had "clarified some inconsistencies" surrounding Jackson's death.

"Dr. Murray has been in Los Angeles since the death of Mr. Jackson," the statement said. "He rode in the ambulance to the hospital and stayed at the hospital for hours comforting and consoling the Jackson family. Investigators say the doctor is in no way a suspect and remains a witness to this tragedy."

Also on Saturday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said the singer's family wants a private autopsy because of unanswered questions about how he died and about Murray.

And Jackson's longtime friend Deepak Chopra said he's been concerned since 2005 that physicians were over medicating the singer.

The suspicions of Jackson's friends and family fit into a long-standing pattern of celebrity doctors becoming entangled in death investigations involving prescription drugs.

Allure of the celebrity lifestyle:

Doctors can become enchanted by the glamour of the celebrity lifestyle and may find it hard to refuse potent painkillers for their clients because of their wealth and power.

"It's a big issue with people who are used to getting what they want. And if someone says no, they can pay someone else to get what they want," said Karen Sternheimer, a sociologist at the University of Southern California who is writing a book on social problems and celebrity culture.

"The physician is not immune to that heady feeling of being in a celebrity's inner circle."

In other instances, the doctors themselves may have questionable pasts or significant debts, and caring for a celebrity allows them to make large amounts of money, said Julie Albright, a sociologist at the University of Southern California.

"Some of these people might not be the most successful doctors, so the money will also buy their complicity in fueling a drug habit," said Albright, who was speaking generally and not specifically about Murray.

Records reveal years of financial troubles for Murray, a 1989 graduate of Meharry Medical College in Nashville who practices medicine in California, Nevada and Texas.

Over the last 18 months, Murray's Nevada medical practice, Global Cardiovascular Associates, has been slapped with more than $400,000 in court judgments: $228,000 to Citicorp Vendor Finance Inc., $71,000 to an education loan company and $135,000 to a leasing company. He faces at least two other pending cases.

Court records show Murray was hit last December with a nearly $3,700 judgment for failure to pay child support in San Diego, and had his wages garnished the same month for almost $1,500 by a credit card company. Another credit card claim for more than $1,100 filed in April remains open.

He also owes $940 in fines and penalties for driving with an expired license plate and for not having proof of insurance in 2000.

I was kind of a bit alarmed:

Best-selling author Deepak Chopra, a longtime friend of Michael Jackson and a licensed medical doctor, said he first became concerned about the pop star's prescription drug use in 2005, when Jackson visited him shortly after his trial on sex abuse allegations.

Chopra said Jackson asked him to prescribe painkillers and already had a bottle of Oxycontin.

"I was kind of a bit alarmed. I said, 'Why are you taking that. You don't need that,' and then I started to probe a little further, and after I grilled him a little bit, he admitted he was getting them from a bunch of doctors," Chopra said.

Chopra said he refused to prescribe the medicine, but over the next four years the nanny of Jackson's children would periodically call to say that a parade of doctors was coming to his homes in Santa Barbara County, Los Angeles, Miami and New York City.

She told Chopra she felt they were overmedicating him, and one time she even tried to stage an intervention with Chopra's help, he said.

Each time, Jackson would discover the nanny's calls and then shut himself off from Chopra to avoid discussing the issue, he said.

Chopra, a spiritual adviser, said he last talked to Jackson directly about his drug use about six months ago and spoke with him on the phone about two weeks before his death.

But they did not discuss drug use on that call, and Chopra said in his final months, Jackson seemed much healthier and excited about his upcoming concerts in London.

"This is a strange addiction. You cannot get these pills or injections unless a physician prescribes them, and he had this bunch of enabling doctors who were in a sense criminals. And they get away with it half the time — and I hope they don't this time," he said.

"It's become a culture with celebrity doctors who in one sense get a sense of importance by hanging around with celebrities."

Like a moth to a flame:

Marilyn Monroe died at 36 from an overdose of sleeping pills in August 1962. She had been under a doctor's care at the time.

Elvis Presley, who died in 1977 at 42, was known to travel with George Nichopoulos, a former physician who overprescribed drugs to clients. Nichopoulos lost his medical license but was acquitted of criminal charges related to Elvis' death.

More recently, Los Angeles County prosecutors charged a psychiatrist and a doctor with conspiring to provide Anna Nicole Smith with thousands of prescription pills.

Smith died Feb. 8, 2007, in Florida after collapsing at a hotel; medical authorities later ruled her death an overdose.

Megastars may be given more leeway than ordinary patients because of their wealth — and because of expectations that the famous often have eccentric habits, said Albright, the sociologist.

"It's almost expected in some ways if it's a rock star or a big actor. You almost expect them to have a larger-than-life lifestyle," she said. "People are drawn to celebrity like a moth to a flame, including these doctors who want to be around that lightness and brightness."

Sources: MSNBC, Countdown with Keith Olbermann

When Addressing "Torture Gate" President Obama Must Fairly Apply Rule of Law

Dr. Condoleeza Rice recently discussed America's right to Torture Prisoners of War with a group of bold Stanford University students.

While its true those students did ask some challenging questions, I must admit as usual Condi held her own.

Check out some of her statements:

"The president instructed us that nothing we would do would be outside of our obligations, legal obligations under the Convention Against Torture."

"I didn't authorize anything. I conveyed the authorization of the administration to the agency, that they had policy authorization, subject to the Justice Department's clearance. That's what I did."

"Foreign Policy is full of tough choices."

"The United States was told, we were told, nothing that violates our obligations under the Convention Against Torture, and so by definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture."

Does any of this sound familiar? I can sum it up in one word: Nixon!

Do I still think that some members of former George W. Bush's Administration should be subpoenaed and prosecuted for Human Rights violations?

Yes, however.......Only if the U.S. Dept. of Justice also chooses to prosecute Employers who knowingly and intentionally hire Illegal Immigrants. These workers were then exploited or abused. Some until they died prematurely.

Yes, only if the United States Dept. of Justice also agrees to prosecute crooked District Attorneys and Law Enforcement Officers who intentionally tampered with cases or "padded" cases with trumped up Federal charges, for the sole purpose of imprisoning thousands of African-American/Hispanic young men and women.

Yes, only if the United States Dept. of Justice also decides to conduct an investigation into how School District Superintendents nation wide used the No Child Left Behind Act as Stare Decisis for Re-Segregating America's Public Schools.

Yes, only if the United States Dept. of Justice will also prosecute all those responsible for intentionally steering Toxic Mortgages and Car Loans into the hands of numerous unqualified buyers who couldn't repay them, therefore contributing to the Meltdown of our Economy.

Yes, only if the United States Dept. of Justice seeks to look into how thousands of Law Enforcement Agency Dept Heads and District Attorneys across the country, chose NOT to investigate or prosecute citizens who intentionally committed Hate Crimes even when the evidence slapped them in the face!

Yes, only if the United States Dept. of Justice chooses to hold State Attorney Generals and State Legislators nationwide accountable for NOT establishing and enforcing Fair, Equitable Tax Laws.

In addition that also includes holding those same State Attorney Generals/ State Legislators accountable for intentionally withholding Unemployment Benefits from citizens legally and rightfully entitled to them, for no just cause other than Corporate Loopholes or Corporate Incentives.

Yes, only if the United States Dept. of Justice will allow Congress to subpoena Health Care Plan Provider CEOs just as they summoned Banking/ Car Industry CEOs, for the purpose of them explaining to Congressional Members why their companies charged such exorbitant fees when processing claims and why millions of eligible claims were denied. Especially claims for Mental Health Care treatment and Medicare for the Elderly.

Yes, only if the United States Dept. of Justice will subpoena thousands of DSS Directors from all 50 states to testify before Congress regarding:

a) Keeping Foster Children in the system until the age of 18 just to help bring in more Federal money for thirsty state budgets.

b) Encouraging/ Allowing Teens and Low-Income, Single Mothers to continue birthing baby after baby after baby, again for the sole purpose of bringing in more Federal money.

c) Allowing "Deadbeat Dads" to not pay Child Support due to Teen Mothers and Low-Income Women with Children (who by the way received Welfare Checks provided from Federal funding), refusing to cooperate with Child Support Enforcement agencies regarding the whereabouts of those lazy "sperm donors".

d) Continuing to dole out Welfare Checks, Food Stamps, Medicaid, Child Care Assistance and Free Housing to Teen Mothers or Low-Income Women with Children, even when they were NOT attending School or Working.

e) For allowing millions of Children/ Youth to die each year by training and ordering Social Workers to ignore blatant, clear signs of Child Abuse/ Child Neglect.

With all due respect to President Obama's Administration, the Rule of Law can't be used for Political purposes.

That is NOT why the U.S. Constitution and Geneva Convention Treaty were drafted.

In order to create a substantive legal standard for improving the lives of all Human Beings, the Rule of Law must be fairly and equally applied.

If the United States Dept. of Justice takes necessary steps in conducting thorough investigations proceeding with prosecutions of individuals who have committed the actions I mentioned above, then and only then will I agree that some members of former President George W. Bush's administration should be bought before a court of law for authorizing acts of Torture.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and guest dissects Condi's discussion on "Torture Gate" with Stanford University students.





Nixon: "If the President does it, that means its not illegal".




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Sources: Young Turks, Huffington Post, Stanford University, Whitehouse.gov, Healthreform.gov, Ed.gov, Speaker.gov, MSNBC, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Think Progress, ABA, Black's Law Dictionary, Rutgers Law Record, Newsobserver, NC Dept. of Public Education, NC Dept. of Health & Human Services, Biz Journals, NCGA, Youtube, Google Maps