Michael Jackson’s personal doctor plans to try to surrender to authorities Friday, his legal team said Friday, but it remains unclear whether or when prosecutors may file criminal charges.
Members of Dr. Conrad Murray’s legal team said the doctor plans to go to the courthouse at 1:30 p.m. PT (4:30 p.m. ET) if they do not hear anything from authorities.
Criminal charges against Murray will be filed “in the near future” in Jackson’s death, law-enforcement sources said Thursday, though there was confusion about when that would happen.
Murray’s lawyers and prosecutors were negotiating Thursday to have Murray turn himself in, but those negotiations broke down, a law-enforcement source with detailed knowledge of the talks told Beth Karas of “In Session,” on CNN sister network truTV.
“I don’t know what part of negotiations could have broken down, in light of the fact that we’ve placed ourselves in the hands of law enforcement to surrender at any time,” said Ed Chernoff, Murray’s lawyer.
Murray plans to show up at the Los Angeles courthouse airport location on Friday afternoon, ready to surrender to authorities as previously planned, a spokesman for his legal team told Karas on Thursday.
If authorities do not take him into custody for a court arraignment, Murray and his lawyers will meet with reporters, said Miranda Sevcik, a spokeswoman for Murray’s legal defense team.
Los Angeles prosecutors could file charges at any time, however, setting up a scenario for Los Angeles police to find Murray on their own, arrest him and take him to jail.
A surrender — in which a defendant turns himself at a police station for booking — would allow the doctor to avoid being seen in public handcuffed and escorted by police.
The chances of a surrender appear dead, a law enforcement source told Karas.
Chernoff said earlier Thursday that he and Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney David Walgren “share the goal of the efficient administration of this process.”
“An arrest of Dr. Murray would be a waste of money, time and resources,” Chernoff said. “We’ve always made it clear: You tell us where; we’ll be there. I’m sure something can be arranged.”
The doctor traveled to Los Angeles last week from his home in Houston, Texas, in anticipation of possible charges.
Murray was hired last spring as Jackson prepared for his comeback concerts in London, England.
The doctor told Los Angeles police that he was with Jackson through the early morning hours of June 25 in an effort to help the pop star fall asleep, according to a police affidavit.
He administered sleep aids, and after Jackson finally began sleeping in the late morning hours, Murray said, he left the bedroom for “about two minutes maximum,” the affidavit said.
“Upon his return, Murray noticed that Jackson was no longer breathing,” it said.
The doctor stayed with Jackson as an ambulance rushed the pop star from his $100,000-a-month rented mansion in Holmby Hills to UCLA Medical Center.
Efforts at CPR proved fruitless, and Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m.
The Los Angeles County coroner ruled Jackson’s death a homicide resulting from a combination of drugs, primarily propofol and lorazepam.
The coroner’s statement said Jackson died from “acute propofol intoxication,” but there were “other conditions contributing to death: benzodiazepine effect.” Lorazepam and two other drugs Murray said he used are benzodiazepines.
The doctor told investigators he had given Jackson three anti-anxiety drugs to help him sleep in the hours before he stopped breathing, a police affidavit said.
Murray had been treating Jackson for insomnia for six weeks at the time of the singer’s death. The doctor told investigators he gave Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol, the generic name for Diprivan, diluted with the anesthetic lidocaine every night via an intravenous drip.
The doctor told police he was worried that Jackson was becoming addicted to the drug and tried to wean him off it.
During the two nights before Jackson’s death, Murray said, he put together combinations of other drugs that succeeded in helping Jackson sleep.
via cnn dot com
