Actually LLL, both myself and Mrs H have been avidly following this case live on SKY TV coverage and I have to say we have been thoroughly engrossed in it.
It has been an eye opener into the American legal system and so far I have been very impressed with the way your system works. It may be a media circus outside, but in the courtroom it has all been conducted extremely well.
The judge Michael Pastor is an excellent choice and is not playing up to the cameras in any way, he keeps a very tight reign on the courtroom, but has a great manner in the way he treats the jurors and the witnesses. On a more personal basis I think that the persecution have put up a far better case than the defence who at times appeared shambolic. Deputy District Attorney David Walgren is like a dog with a rabbit and puts his case in a very measured and methodical manner, I would not want him to be the prosecutor in a case against myself. Alternatively the defence led mainly by attorney Ed Chernoff looked a bit chaotic at times.
Most of the real evidence rests on whether or not you believe the testimony of Dr White who is an expert on the drug Propophol or Dr Shaffer who is an expert on how drugs such as Propophol react within the body. Both gave very detailed accounts and are both very knowledgeable, but on balance I would say that Shaffer’s knowledge is more up to date and more unbiased that Dr Whites who is after all a paid consultant for the defence.
The bottom line is as far as I can see it, that Dr Murray is guilty of negligence in so much as he administered a drug in surroundings that were totally unsuitable and to me that was his main mistake. However I can see that due to his financial problems (not reported in the US trial) he was desperate to make money and so took the lucrative position as Jackson’s private doctor. On Jackson’s part it is fairly obvious that he was in effect employing his own private drug pusher, for that is the only name you can give to someone who administers prescription drugs to you on a nightly basis in order to sedate you. For that reason I also blame Michael Jackson for contributing to his own death by employing Dr Murray to carry out this type of sedation which by every witness account should only be done in a fully equipped hospital setting.
So is Dr Murray guilty? Well if you had listened to all the evidence, yes he clearly is, but only of negligence in not supervising Jackson more carefully. But this is in America and if a jury can find OJ Simpson not guilty, then anything is possible.
