Conrad Murray Defense Witness Calls Prosecutor a "Scumbag"
UPDATE 4 p.m.: Court has adjourned for the day and will resume Friday at 12:45 p.m. The defense, which had expected to start its case tomorrow, has yet to cross-examine Dr. Shafer.
UPDATE: 3:10 p.m.: White, who described Shafer as a friend and colleague, tells E! News that Deputy District Attorney David Walgren's treatment of the evidence has been "unethical and unconscionable." Shafer's testimony, however, has changed the way he thinks of him, White says. "I am going to take the high road, not the low road with him," he adds. "I was his teacher when he was a medical student. The truth will come out. It always does."
UPDATE 3:05 p.m. Pastor immediately called for a break after Murray lost his cool in response to Shafer using an actual infusion stand to demonstrate how Murray could have dosed Michael Jackson with propofol. "Can you believe that?" Murray whispered to Dr. Paul White, an expected defense witness. "What a scumbag," White told the media seated near him.
UPDATE 1:15 p.m.: Shafer also disputed the defense's contention that Jackson ingested eight 2-miligram tablets of lorazepam, the sedative that Murray's attorneys are now training their sights on, between 8 a.m. and noon on the day he died. The true amount was "much, much smaller," the anesthesiologist said. As far as the propofol went, Shafer added, Jackson had been given more than the 25 miligrams Murray told police he'd administered to the singer.
UPDATE 10 a.m.: Shafer said that injecting propofol into a vein with a syringe or finding an injection port would take a bit of "time and coordination." The Columbia University Medical Center doc noted that Murray told police that Jackson's veins were so unavailable he had started giving him IVs below his left knee.
UPDATE 9:20 a.m.: Dr. Shafer says there is "zero" chance Michael Jackson died from oral ingestion of propofol, citing tests that had been done on mice, piglets, dogs and monkeys. Shafer adds that there hasn't been a study on humans because "it was obvious" it wouldn't work because there would be no bio-availability. Plus, when ingested orally, Shafer said, the drug is quickly broken down by the liver. He cited a test on patients in Chile who showed "no sedation" after swallowing 200 or 400 miligrams of propofol.
UPDATE 8:55 a.m.: Dr. Steven Shafer takes the stand to continue his testimony for the second day under questioning from prosecutors.
UPDATE 8:30 a.m.: Jackson family members Katherine, Joe, Rebbie and Randy in the courtroom for this session.
Conrad Murray's team has a tough nut to crack today.
On day 14 of his trial on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the death of Michael Jackson, the defense will commence its cross-examination of Dr. Steve Shafer, an expert on propofol who on the stand yesterday absolutely castigated Murray's treatment of Jackson.
"The facts in this case, in my view...virtually none of the safeguards were in place when propofol was administered to Mr. Jackson," Shafer testified. He also called it "inexcusable" that Murray did not immediately call 911 the second he noticed Jackson in respiratory distress, especially considering Murray was apparently "clueless in what to do."
Deputy District Attorney David Walgren is expected to rest his case once Shafer steps down. Murray's camp has informed Judge Michael Pastor that they plan to call 15 witnesses and wrap their own case toward the middle of next week.
http://uk.eonline.com/news/michael_jackson_manslaughter_trial/270524
