Nurse nutritionist Cherilyn Lee's testimony for the defense resumes - Day 17 -
Rain-related traffic delayed a lot of the jurors this morning. Then defense witness Cherilyn Lee has asked for a break shortly after her testimony started.
She didn't even get to answer the first question. Lead defense attorney Ed Chernoff just asked her if her records indicated that she visited Michael Jackson on April 12, 2009.
"I suddenly feel very dizzy and my vision is kind of blurry," Lee said." If I could just rest a little bit, I would appreciate it very much." She then began to cry. "This is just very sensitive for me."
The judge told her that her health should be her first concern. He allowed her to leave the witness stand and take a break.
"Hopefully we’ll see you in not too long," the judge told her.
Ms Lee recalled a meeting with Jackson at his rented mansion two months before his death in which he mentioned propofol for the first time.
When she asked a doctor about the drug Diprivan (the name propofol is marketed under by AstraZeneca), she was told that it is not for home use. When she spoke to Jackson about it again, he told her that doctors had told him that it was safe if he had someone to monitor him. He'd also said he was given the drug during surgery and that it worked for him. "I know this will knock me out," Lee testified Jackson told her.
She said she asked him, "What if you never wake up?" Then she began to cry. The judge gave her a few moments to breathe.
Jackson asked her for propofol again later in the evening, but she refused to give it to him. That was the last time she saw the singer, she said.
When the defense asked Lee if she ever gave the drug to Michael Jackson, she answered flatly "absolutely not!" She said she told Jackson, "No one who cares or had your best interest at heart would ever give you this."
Prosecutor David Walgren read from Lee's medical records, where she told Jackson, "I understand you want a good night sleep, you want to be knocked out, but what if you don't wake up?"
Michael replied, "doctors said it is safe. I just need to be monitored."
Lee told the jury she had no idea what Propofol was at first, but after doing some research, she realized this was not a drug she was comfortable administering. She told Jackson "nobody who cared or had you best interest at heart is going to give you this."
According to Lee, Jackson eventually became frustrated with her holistic remedies -- which included teas and vitamin infusions -- and stopped calling her.
The last time she heard from Jackson was on June 21, when his bodyguard frantically called to tell her Jackson wasn't feeling well. She said she could hear Jackson shouting in the background, "Tell her what's happening with me, half of my body is hot and the other half is cold." She said she told the bodyguard to take him to the hospital immediately.
Under cross-examination Ms Lee acknowledged a conversation with Jackson about propofol in which she told him: "No one who cared or had your best interest at heart would give you this."
She said her final refusal to provide the drug came on April 19, 2009, and she never saw Jackson again.
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