Coroner investigator, Elissa Fleak's testimony resumes - Day 8 -

The start of testimony Thursday, the eighth day of the involuntary manslaughter trial of Conrad Murray, was delayed when the judge raised concern that medical information about Jackson's children were displayed in court Wednesday when the prosecution showed their father's medical records.

"These are records that involve minor children of the decedent in this case, and I have very real concerns about their privacy," Judge Pastor said.

Coroner’s office investigator, Elissa Fleak, denied a defense allegation that she made a “substantial number of mistakes” while collecting and recording evidence from Michael Jackson’s house.

Los Angeles Coroner’s Office investigator Elissa Fleak began the day Thursday at Conrad Murray’s trial by continuing to identify pieces of evidence collected from Jackson’s home. She also testified that medical records provided by Murray regarding his treatment of Jackson did not include anything about June 25 or the prior three months.

On cross examination, defense attorney Ed Chernoff pointed out some apparent inconsistencies and omissions in Fleak’s records. Her initial notes did not indicate that a propofol bottle was found inside an IV bag, but her revised notes did. She also did not photograph the bottle in the bag before removing it.

In addition, Chernoff noted that she moved one bottle of medication before photographing it, that her notes said gloves were found on the floor when photos showed them on a chair and that she left a fingerprint on one of the syringes found in the room. Fleak also acknowledged that she did not collect and test a juice bottle that was on Jackson’s night stand with some of the bottles of prescription drugs.

On redirect, prosecutor David Walgren asked if Fleak had ever conducted what she considered a perfect investigation and she said no.

After Fleak testified, Walgren read a stipulation that fingerprint analysis was conducted on many of the vials and pieces of medical equipment found in Jackson’s room and only the propofol bottle found in the saline bag had Conrad Murray’s prints on it. Of the other items where prints were detected, Michael Jackson, Murray and several of Jackson’s employees were all eliminated as possible sources.

Fleak, however, acknowledged under cross-examination Thursday that she never wrote in a report that the bottle was inside the bag until March of this year. She did, however, mention it at in her preliminary hearing in January.

At that hearing, she testified that she found a broken syringe plunger on the nightstand next to Jackson's bed, with a needle on the floor below.

But Fleak's trial testimony is that she was mistaken about the needle matching up to the syringe. She only realized this after a meeting this year with the prosecutor, she acknowledged when lead defense lawyer Ed Chernoff questioned her.

She also said that she moved the syringe before photographs of it were taken and that her fingerprint was later found on it.

"You made substantial mistakes in your investigation?" Chernoff asked.

"No," Fleak replied.

Fleak also revealed that she destroyed her handwritten notes from her June 25, 2009, search, but not the notes from the June 29, 2009, search. She said it is her routine practice to destroy her notes after she writes a report.

Ms Fleak admitted that she has never conducted a "perfect" investigation, but insisted it was common practice to destroy original notes once the detail had been recorded in a formal report.

Twelve bottles of propofol were found in the bedroom during her first search on June 25, including an empty vial found on the floor next to the bed, Fleak said.

Seven bottles of medications were on a nightstand next to the bed, including one with lorazepam pills prescribed by Murray to Jackson.

Ordered to provide Michael Jackson's medical records to the coroner's office, his personal physician handed over a slim file that detailed the pop star's chest colds but contained no information about the surgical anesthetic he was using nightly to sleep, an investigator testified Thursday's.

The witness, Elissa Fleak, told jurors at Conrad Murray's manslaughter trial that a subpoena she issued on June 29 requested all records for his medical care, including psychiatric documents. What she got in return from Murray's lawyers was a small stack of papers that showed sporadic care for Jackson and his children dating back to 2006. The records did not refer to Murray's nightly visits to Jackson's mansion or what he told police was an ongoing battle to wean his patient from dependence on the anesthetic propofol.

"Did any of the records provided pertain to the events surrounding June 25, 2009 [the date of Jackson's death], and the care provided -- let's say -- in April, May, June 2009," asked Deputy Dist. Atty. David Walgren.

Walgren began to review results of toxicology testing on Jackson’s body with coroner’s office toxicologist Daniel Anderson before Thursday’s lunch break. Anderson was expected back on the stand in the afternoon.

Elissa Fleak's testimony can be heard by clicking here for part 1 and here for part 2

MJFS - source: cnn / latimes