Attorney’s Doctor Appeal Conrad Manslaughter Conviction

Michael Jackson's doctor has appealed his involuntary manslaughter conviction, claiming there were multiple legal errors at his trial.
A lawyer for Dr Conrad Murray argued in the 230-page brief that there was insufficient proof Jackson died of an overdose of an anaesthetic administered by Murray.

The appeal, coming 18 months after Murray's conviction, also reiterated an often-stated defence claim that Jackson may have administered the overdose to himself.

The pop superstar died on June 25, 2009, days before he was to leave for England to perform in his ill-fated This is It concert.

Witnesses said Murray had been giving him propofol as a sleep aid, a purpose for which it was not intended.

Attorney Valerie Wass said that because of Jackson's great fame, his doctor was used as an example by the judge who sentenced him to the highest term for involuntary manslaughter.

She suggested that even if his conviction is upheld, his four-year sentence should be reduced.

Murray is eligible for release in October after serving half his sentence.

Murray's two-month trial in 2011 drew wide media coverage, and Ms Wass argued that the judge should have excluded TV cameras from the courtroom and granted a motion to sequester jurors.

The appeal said: "The unprecedented fame of the alleged victim combined with the pervasiveness of modern media rendered it impossible for appellant to receive a fair trial with a non-sequestered jury in a case that was televised and streamed live around the world."

The appeal also challenged the prosecution theory that Jackson was hooked up to an IV drip of propofol and left alone in his bedroom by Murray.

It called that scenario "absurd, improbable and unbelievable", and provided an exhaustive reprise of scientific testimony about Jackson's death.

Murray told police he gave the singer an extremely small dose of propofol, a fact contradicted by scientists who reconstructed the events preceding the death.

The appeal also faulted the judge for refusing to admit as evidence some of Jackson's previous medical records, his contract with concert promoter AEG and his financial documents.

The attorney general's office, representing the prosecution, has 30 days to respond to the appeal.

Meanwhile, Murray may be summoned to testify in a civil lawsuit filed against AEG by Jackson's mother.

Jury selection in that case is currently underway. Katherine Jackson claims the concert promoter was negligent in hiring Murray to care for the singer.