LOS ANGELES — After calling 33 witnesses over a four-week period in an attempt to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dr. Conrad Murray was criminally negligent in administering the anesthetic that killed Michael Jackson, the prosecution rested its case Monday.
The prosecution’s final witness was Dr. Steven Shafer, a professor of anesthesiology at Columbia University, who claimed over five days of testimony that Jackson would still be alive had Murray adhered to basic standards of professional medical conduct.
On Monday, defense attorney Ed Chernoff grilled Shafer about the specific data points he used in testing various scenarios about the final hours of 50-year-old Jackson’s life on June 25, 2009.
“You chose this out of thin air, you chose this example?” Chernoff asked, according to The Los Angeles Times.
“Yes,” Shafer replied.
Shafer said he was forced to speculate about Jackson’s treatment the day of his death because Murray kept no records, which violated established medical standards.
Shafer said that he had concluded from the data available to him that the only way Jackson could have had the amount of propofol in his body at the time of his death was through an intravenous drip administered by Murray, the troubled star’s personal physician.
The defense is expected to argue that Jackson died as a result of injecting himself with propofol at his rented Los Angeles mansion without Murray’s knowledge.
On re-direct examination, prosecutors launched a preemptive strike on the defense’s theory.
“You were not able to find a scenario that could explain the blood levels and also self-injection?” Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney David Walgren asked, according to The Times.
“Correct,” Shafer said.
The defense began calling its first witnesses Monday. Murray’s attorneys plan on calling about 15 witnesses, including propofol expert Dr. Paul White.
White referred to Shafer as “a scumbag” to reporters in reference to Shafer’s demonstration Thursday of how Murray could have given Jackson propofol.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said Friday he was considering contempt-of-court charges against White.
Under California’s involuntary manslaughter statute, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Murray’s actions involved “a high risk of death or great bodily harm” and were “committed without due caution” in order to obtain a conviction.
If convicted, Murray faces up to four years in prison and the loss of his medical license, which has been suspended pending the trial’s outcome.