THE KING’S KILLER THRILLER TRIAL (2)

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The long sealed autopsy report will be hotly debated. Jackson was “fairly healthy” and had a “strong heart,” it concludes. Also, according to his AEG concert promoter, he had passed his three-hour physical exam “with flying colors.” 

So, contrary to all the rumors about suffering possibly terminal conditions, Jackson apparently was not on the brink of death at all, the DA will insist. Illustrating this, the jury will surely be shown an animated Jackson rehearsing at the Staples Center the night before he died. 

Rebutting, the Defense may remind the jury that the star had collapsed on stage in a previous rehearsal. As for the last, televised, event, the performer arrived three hours late, appearing listless and impaired, then apparently danced and sang energetically. 

What perked him up? Chernoff might ask an expert medical witness. Could it have been amphetamines which the star had routinely used in the past?

If Jackson had used uppers to perform, getting to sleep would have been all the more difficult for him that night. Indeed, the sedatives Murray administered were inadequate, so Jackson begged him for surgical anesthesia.

Now the crucial question arises: Did the defendant administer a “safe” dose – a dose within accepted medical guidelines?

Medical experts will debate the “safe” dose issue based on the patient’s size, other drugs in his system, and his general health. The third variable is especially critical and could become Murray’s trump card. Why?

A doctor can competently and safely treat a patient only if he knows his true physical condition. Jackson had suffered many serious ailments over the years – some documented, others rumored – and kept his medical records closely guarded. Was Murray given access to the complete records? Unlikely. More likely, he was shown Jackson’s clean bill of health from the recent 3-hour AEG physical. So, he administered a dose of propofol based on the reasonable assumption that Jackson was in good health. 

The autopsy report itself confirmed this. But, paradoxically, it added that Jackson had suffered from “chronic lung inflammation, respiratory bronchiolitis… and patchy hemorrhage of right and left lungs.”

So the Defense might ask: How could the AEG physical have missed this, especially for a singer? Or was the lung abnormality redacted from their report, since the producers knew it could cause the delay or cancellation of their lucrative London concerts?

Chernoff might subpoena Jackson’s medical records to see if any of his many doctors had independently diagnosed lung disease. But the records could be altered or missing. If so, Chernoff could call for testimony from insiders who have stated that Jackson suffered from Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and needed a lung transplant. 

“Because Mr. Jackson’s severe pre-existing lung condition was not revealed to my client –by Mr. Jackson himself, his other doctors, and/or his producer’s medical examiners –he miscalculated a “safe” dose of propofol, assuming he was treating a ‘healthy’ patient,” Chernoff might tell the jury in closing. “As a result of their own negligent or deliberate failure to disclose a lung condition, Mr. Jackson’s suffered respiratory failure.” 

Should the Defense risk taking this argument a step further, it could summon former Jackson employees who in recent years have said the star had threatened suicide and believed he had only a short time to live. In this way, a “suicide by doctor” scenario could be suggested. Murray would be portrayed as neither negligent nor unprofessional, but as an unwitting dupe. “A fall guy,” as Joe Jackson himself has insisted, but without a conspiracy behind him.

Even if conspiracy were a charge in People v. Murray, it would all but impossible to prove. But many Jackson managers and producers will be watching the trial closely since a king’s ransom in life insurance money will be at stake.  

Sony, AEG, and untold others had multi-million dollar policies on the star. If he had been diagnosed with a terminal lung condition and concealed it, insurance pay-outs can be voided. If his drug abuse is deemed intentionally self-destructive, the pay-outs can also be voided. Weeks after his death, his estate executors – worried about the upcoming toxicology report – settled for a $3 million pay-out on one $20 million policy. 

Whatever in fact happens during this historic trial, and whatever verdict is reached, truth and justice will not be the only issue, but hopefully they will be served. 

Copyright © 2010 by David Comfort