Updated: Trial might conclude the next week and resume Tuesday due to death of witness's father

Testimony in the manslaughter trial of Conrad Murray could be concluded by October 21, attorneys told the judge Friday.

During a 35-minute hearing before Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, lawyers for the prosecution and defense said they expected the last witness for either side to finish by the end of next week or no later than October 24. Defendant Conrad Murray and the jury were not in court for the session.

So far with 12 days at trial, 33 witnesses have testified for the prosecution.

Dr. Steven Shafer, an anesthesiologist and an expert on propofol, was on the witness stand when court adjourned Thursday. Shafer will be the last state witness, prosecutor David Walgren told Pastor.

Dr. Shafer, who is expected to give a detailed scientific explanation of how the surgical anesthetic propofol is metabolized in the human body, will be on the witness stand for at least a day once he returns from his father's funeral, according to Walgren.

The defense presentation would follow, lasting until next Friday or the following Monday, according to defense lawyer Nareg Gourjian.

Along with two or three medical experts, the defense has lined up about a dozen patients of Murray to testify about how he's helped them. The defense will call about 15 witnesses, including "police officers, experts and some character witnesses," but could add more, defense lawyers said. There will be at least two defense experts and as many as four, depending on what Shafer says in his remaining testimony, defense lawyer Nareg Gourjian said.

Dr. Shafer could complete his testimony Monday or Tuesday, after what defense counsel J. Michael Flanagan estimated would be "a couple hours" of cross-examination. But a member of Dr. Shafer's family has died and he might not be able to return Monday, requiring cancellation of the day's proceedings, Pastor said.

Along with Paul White of Dallas, the defense's propofol expert, Dr. Shafer had been planning to attend a national conference of anesthesiologists this weekend in Chicago, where he was to receive a lifetime achievement award, Walgren said. Shafer won't go to the conference, the prosecutor said.

"I feel terrible," the judge said. "I'm sure all of us do. Doubly tragic, in the sense he had this personal loss and then not to receive this honor."

The trial may not resume until Tuesday because the father of Dr. Shafer, the prosecution's last witness died, it was revealed at the hearing Friday.

Testimony in Conrad Murray's trial was recessed Thursday afternoon so anesthesiology expert Dr. Steven Shafer could attend a medical conference in Chicago, but Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said Friday that Shafer never made it there because of the death in his family.

Also, the defense lawyer Flanagan, disclosed in court Friday that he knew months before trial that a theory that Michael Jackson drank a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol would have to be abandoned.

Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan, made the statement without the jury present.

The idea of Jackson orally giving himself the fatal dose was long touted by defense attorneys as a centerpiece of their case. Documents had been filed and arguments heard about studies on the issue.

The attorneys have even referred, until days ago during the trial, to a fruit juice jar found on Jackson's bedside table, suggesting he had taken the drug with juice.

But Wednesday Flanagan said that the defense was abandoning the strategy.

"We are not going to assert at any point in this trial that Michael Jackson at any time orally ingested propofol," said Flanagan, who revealed he had commissioned a study that concluded propofol would not be absorbed into the body when ingested.

But he did not say when the study had been done.

Prosecutors and the judge appeared stunned at the announcement.

At Friday's hearing, on a day when testimony was not heard, Deputy District Attorney David Walgren told the judge, "We are dealing with an ever-changing defense. It was just a couple of days ago they abandoned oral propofol."

"Oh, your honor, that is not correct," Flanagan said.

"No?' Walgren asked incredulously.

"We abandoned oral propofol months ago," said Flanagan, saying they were swayed by a report from the leading expert on the drug, who is expected to testify for the prosecution next week.

He said Dr. Steven Shafer had questioned "the bioavailability of oral propofol," meaning whether it would be absorbed into the body if swallowed.

Flanagan said the defense decided to have its own study conducted and, "We determined back in May that bioavailability of oral propofol was not feasible."

Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor said he had never been advised in advance that the theory would be dropped. He said he would not be dealing with Walgren's claims of an ever-changing defense.

"I don't have to go there," he said. "It is what it is right now."In another development, Walgren moved to admit into evidence 211 prosecution exhibits that jurors already have seen. Murray's defense raised objections to only two: a clip of Jackson rehearsing for his planned This Is It concert tour and a photo of Jackson's three children.

Pastor ruled for the prosecution and accepted all 211 items. Jurors will have unlimited access to them during deliberations, Pastor said, except for bottles of propofol, drug residues, medical instruments and other potentially dangerous items. Only if jurors ask to see these items will a bailiff bring them in and supervise their review by the jurors, the judge ruled.

Pastor, angered when Walgren and co-prosecutor Deborah Brazil showed up in court six minutes late, fined each $60. He deferred collecting the fines until "a later time" when he'll ask them to explain their tardiness, he said.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, who is known for keeping tight control on his courtroom, scolded and fined prosecutor Walgren and his co-counsel, Deputy District Attorney Deborah Brazil, for being a few minutes late to Friday morning's hearing.

"People, you were late this morning by six minutes," Pastor said. "What is the reason for this, please?"

"We were just running late, your honor," Walgren said. "We apologize."

"Well, this has happened before," Pastor said, before ordering Walgren and Brazil to pay a $60 fine, $10 for each minute they were tardy to court.

Walgren blamed slow courthouse elevators when he and Brazil were 15 minutes late for a hearing last month.

Update

Testimony in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor has been put on hold beyond Monday, and possibly longer, to allow to Dr. Shafer to attend to his father's funeral.

"Resumption of the trial will be announced when further information is available," court spokeswoman Mary Hearnan said in an email Sunday.

MJFS - usatoday / cnn / AP