Michael Jackson could not have swallowed anesthetic, doctor says

A medical expert for the prosecution Murray’s involuntary manslaughter case says it would have been impossible for Michael Jackson to have swallowed the fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol, attorneys said on Friday.

Murray’s defense team has contended that Jackson, desperate for sleep so that he could be ready for rehearsals for his comeback tour, drank or injected himself with the drug while Murray was out of the room.

At a preliminary hearing, they zeroed in on levels of the drug found in Jackson’s stomach at the time of his autopsy.

The prosecution expert “says categorically it’s not possible Michael Jackson orally ingested propofol, based on the science”, Deputy Dist. Atty. David Walgren told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor at a hearing Friday.

But attorneys during the hearing did not go into detail about why the expert reached that conclusion or what the science behind the opinion was. Defense attorneys asked the judge to exclude the testimony of at least two of the prosecution’s new medical experts, saying they were being “sandbagged” with brand-new theories on the eve of trial, set to begin with jury selection next week.

They argued that prosecutors had violated rules on turning over materials prior to trial. “I think the only remedy in this case is not allow these two experts to testify”, said attorney Michael Flanagan, saying they could not be ready to respond to the experts’ opinions by the time of trial.

Pastor declined to bar the witnesses from testifying, saying “there are sophisticated forensic issues involved”.

Attorneys are expected back in court Friday afternoon to discuss a possible delay in starting the trial.

MJFS

Source: latimes.com