November 4, 2011
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Conrad Murray - Is He Guilty?
Did Conrad Murray give Michael Jackson a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol? Maybe and maybe not. Personally I don't think he did so, certainly not with criminal intent. He may have been negligent; he may be guilty of bad judgement; but was it a criminal offense?
No! The only way the prosecution can prove that this was a criminal act is to show intent to do harm (which they have not done), or to show that the administration of propofol outside of a hospital setting is against the law. If that is true, then Murray's use of propofol in Jackson's home would be a criminal act.
But if propofol must be used by a board certified anesthesiologist in a hospital setting, then why didn't the prosecution emphasize this point in closing arguments? And what about the drug store that was dispensing the propofol to Dr. Murray by the case? Is that legal. Apparently so since the store hasn't been charged with uncontrolled distribution of a controlled substance.
Dr. Murray does appear to be guilty of medical negligence. Certainly there are grounds for a civil suit for wrongful death. But I don't think I could convict Dr. Murray of criminally negligent manslaughter.
Update: Guilty. The jury was concerned about the use of Propofol outside the hospital and the quantity Dr. Murray was using. Will he appeal?
Comments (3)
Michael Jackson certainly was no angel, he was the cause of his own demise irrespective the role of the Dr.
The audio tapes of Jackson seem to show that he was not really capable of making any rational judgments about his medications. As I understand it, Murray's duty as Jackson's attending physician was to control and monitor his drug use among other things. Apparently Jackson was paying him an extraordinary amount to do this and Murray obviously failed in his obligation quite deliberately. If that isn't negligent homicide, I don't know what is.
Things are too complicated in real life to make a solid decision.
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