الرئيسية
By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The doctor convicted in the overdose death
of Michael Jackson was sentenced to the maximum four years behind bars
Tuesday by a judge who denounced him as a reckless physician whose
actions were a "disgrace to the medical profession."
Dr. Conrad
Murray sat stoically with his hands crossed as Superior Court Judge
Michael Pastor repeatedly chastised him for what he called a "horrific
violation of trust" while caring for Jackson.
However, Pastor
conceded his sentence was constrained by a recent change in California
law that requires Murray to serve his sentence in county jail rather
than state prison.
Sheriff's officials later said Murray will
serve a little less than two years behind bars while housed in a one-man
cell and kept away from other prisoners.
"This is going to be a
real test of our criminal justice system to see if it's meaningful at
all," District Attorney Steve Cooley said.
Cooley said he was
considering asking the judge to modify the sentence to classify the
crime as a serious felony warranting incarceration in state prison.
The
judge was relentless in his bashing of the 58-year-old Murray, saying
he lied repeatedly and had not shown remorse for his actions in the
treatment of Jackson. Pastor also said Murray's heavy use of the
powerful anesthetic propofol to help Jackson battle insomnia violated
his sworn obligation.
"It should be made very clear that
experimental medicine is not going to be tolerated, and Mr. Jackson was
an experiment," Pastor said. "Dr. Murray was intrigued by the prospect
and he engaged in this money for medicine madness that is simply not
going to be tolerated by me."
Pastor also said Murray has "absolutely no sense of fault, and is and remains dangerous" to the community.
The
judge said.one of the most disturbing aspects of Murray's case was a
slurred recording of Jackson recovered from the doctor's cell phone.
"That
tape recording was Dr. Murray's insurance policy," Pastor said. "It was
designed to record his patient surreptitiously at that patient's most
vulnerable point."
Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan said
after the sentencing that he was surprised the judge focused on the
recording. The lawyer also contended that nothing said during the
hearing would have changed the judge's mind about the sentence.
Michael
Jackson's family told Pastor in a statement read earlier that they were
not seeking revenge but wanted Murray to receive a stiff sentence that
served as a warning to opportunistic doctors.
It included elements from Jackson's parents, siblings and his three children.
"As
his brothers and sisters, we will never be able to hold, laugh or
perform again with our brother Michael," the statement said. "And as his
children, we will grow up without a father, our best friend, our
playmate and our dad."
The family told The Associated Press after the sentencing that they were pleased with the results.
"We're
going to be a family. We're going to move forward. We're going to tour,
play the music and miss him," brother Jermaine Jackson said.
Murray
was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a six-week trial that
presented the most detailed account yet of Jackson's final hours but
left many questions about Murray's treatment of the superstar with
propofol.
The jury heard the recording of Jackson during the
trial but defense attorneys never explained in court why he recorded the
impaired singer six weeks before his death.
"We have to be
phenomenal," he was heard saying about his "This Is It" comeback
concerts in London. "When people leave this show, when people leave my
show, I want them to say, 'I've never seen nothing like this in my life.
Go. Go. I've never seen nothing like this. Go. It's amazing. He's the
greatest entertainer in the world.'"
Before sentencing, lead
defense attorney Ed Chernoff attacked Jackson, as he and his team
frequently did during the doctor's trial. "Michael Jackson was a drug
seeker," he said.
Murray did not directly address the court.
After sentencing, he mouthed the words "I love you" to his mother and
girlfriend in the courtroom.
Murray's mother, Milta Rush, sat alone on a bench in the courthouse hallway after the sentencing.
"My son is not what they charged him to be," she said quietly. "He was a gentle child from the time he was small. "
Of her son's future, she said, "God is in charge."
Jackson's
death in June 2009 stunned the world, as did the ensuing investigation
that led to Murray being charged in February 2010.
Murray told
detectives he had been giving the singer nightly doses of propofol to
help him sleep as he prepared for the series of comeback concerts.
Propofol
is supposed to be used in hospital settings and has never been approved
for sleep treatments, yet Murray acknowledged giving it to Jackson then
leaving the room on the day the singer died.
Murray declined to
testify during his trial but did opt to participate in a documentary in
which he said he didn't consider himself guilty of any crime and blamed
Jackson for entrapping him into administering the propofol doses. His
attorneys contended throughout the case that Jackson must have given
himself the fatal dose when Murray left the singer's bedside.
In
their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors cited Murray's statements to
advocate for the maximum term. They also want him to pay restitution to
the singer's three children — Prince, Paris and Blanket.
The exact amount Murray has to pay will be determined at a hearing in January.
"Anything over a couple of dollars, he's not going to be able to pay anyway," Flanagan said.
Murray
was deeply in debt when he agreed to serve as Jackson's personal
physician for $150,000 a month, and the singer died before Murray
received any money.
Prosecutors said the relationship of Jackson
and Murray was corrupted by greed. Murray left his practices to serve as
Jackson's doctor and look out for his well-being, but instead acted as
an employee catering to the singer's desire to receive propofol to put
him to sleep, prosecutors said.
Murray's attorneys relied largely
on 34 letters from relatives, friends and former patients to portray
Murray in a softer light and win a lighter sentence. The letters and
defense filings described Murray's compassion as a doctor, including
accepting lower payments from his mostly poor patients.
"There is
no question that the death of his patient, Mr. Jackson, was
unintentional and an enormous tragedy for everyone affected," defense
attorneys wrote in their sentencing memo.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The doctor convicted in the overdose death
of Michael Jackson was sentenced to the maximum four years behind bars
Tuesday by a judge who denounced him as a reckless physician whose
actions were a "disgrace to the medical profession."
Dr. Conrad
Murray sat stoically with his hands crossed as Superior Court Judge
Michael Pastor repeatedly chastised him for what he called a "horrific
violation of trust" while caring for Jackson.
However, Pastor
conceded his sentence was constrained by a recent change in California
law that requires Murray to serve his sentence in county jail rather
than state prison.
Sheriff's officials later said Murray will
serve a little less than two years behind bars while housed in a one-man
cell and kept away from other prisoners.
"This is going to be a
real test of our criminal justice system to see if it's meaningful at
all," District Attorney Steve Cooley said.
Cooley said he was
considering asking the judge to modify the sentence to classify the
crime as a serious felony warranting incarceration in state prison.
The
judge was relentless in his bashing of the 58-year-old Murray, saying
he lied repeatedly and had not shown remorse for his actions in the
treatment of Jackson. Pastor also said Murray's heavy use of the
powerful anesthetic propofol to help Jackson battle insomnia violated
his sworn obligation.
"It should be made very clear that
experimental medicine is not going to be tolerated, and Mr. Jackson was
an experiment," Pastor said. "Dr. Murray was intrigued by the prospect
and he engaged in this money for medicine madness that is simply not
going to be tolerated by me."
Pastor also said Murray has "absolutely no sense of fault, and is and remains dangerous" to the community.
The
judge said.one of the most disturbing aspects of Murray's case was a
slurred recording of Jackson recovered from the doctor's cell phone.
"That
tape recording was Dr. Murray's insurance policy," Pastor said. "It was
designed to record his patient surreptitiously at that patient's most
vulnerable point."
Defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan said
after the sentencing that he was surprised the judge focused on the
recording. The lawyer also contended that nothing said during the
hearing would have changed the judge's mind about the sentence.
Michael
Jackson's family told Pastor in a statement read earlier that they were
not seeking revenge but wanted Murray to receive a stiff sentence that
served as a warning to opportunistic doctors.
It included elements from Jackson's parents, siblings and his three children.
"As
his brothers and sisters, we will never be able to hold, laugh or
perform again with our brother Michael," the statement said. "And as his
children, we will grow up without a father, our best friend, our
playmate and our dad."
The family told The Associated Press after the sentencing that they were pleased with the results.
"We're
going to be a family. We're going to move forward. We're going to tour,
play the music and miss him," brother Jermaine Jackson said.
Murray
was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after a six-week trial that
presented the most detailed account yet of Jackson's final hours but
left many questions about Murray's treatment of the superstar with
propofol.
The jury heard the recording of Jackson during the
trial but defense attorneys never explained in court why he recorded the
impaired singer six weeks before his death.
"We have to be
phenomenal," he was heard saying about his "This Is It" comeback
concerts in London. "When people leave this show, when people leave my
show, I want them to say, 'I've never seen nothing like this in my life.
Go. Go. I've never seen nothing like this. Go. It's amazing. He's the
greatest entertainer in the world.'"
Before sentencing, lead
defense attorney Ed Chernoff attacked Jackson, as he and his team
frequently did during the doctor's trial. "Michael Jackson was a drug
seeker," he said.
Murray did not directly address the court.
After sentencing, he mouthed the words "I love you" to his mother and
girlfriend in the courtroom.
Murray's mother, Milta Rush, sat alone on a bench in the courthouse hallway after the sentencing.
"My son is not what they charged him to be," she said quietly. "He was a gentle child from the time he was small. "
Of her son's future, she said, "God is in charge."
Jackson's
death in June 2009 stunned the world, as did the ensuing investigation
that led to Murray being charged in February 2010.
Murray told
detectives he had been giving the singer nightly doses of propofol to
help him sleep as he prepared for the series of comeback concerts.
Propofol
is supposed to be used in hospital settings and has never been approved
for sleep treatments, yet Murray acknowledged giving it to Jackson then
leaving the room on the day the singer died.
Murray declined to
testify during his trial but did opt to participate in a documentary in
which he said he didn't consider himself guilty of any crime and blamed
Jackson for entrapping him into administering the propofol doses. His
attorneys contended throughout the case that Jackson must have given
himself the fatal dose when Murray left the singer's bedside.
In
their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors cited Murray's statements to
advocate for the maximum term. They also want him to pay restitution to
the singer's three children — Prince, Paris and Blanket.
The exact amount Murray has to pay will be determined at a hearing in January.
"Anything over a couple of dollars, he's not going to be able to pay anyway," Flanagan said.
Murray
was deeply in debt when he agreed to serve as Jackson's personal
physician for $150,000 a month, and the singer died before Murray
received any money.
Prosecutors said the relationship of Jackson
and Murray was corrupted by greed. Murray left his practices to serve as
Jackson's doctor and look out for his well-being, but instead acted as
an employee catering to the singer's desire to receive propofol to put
him to sleep, prosecutors said.
Murray's attorneys relied largely
on 34 letters from relatives, friends and former patients to portray
Murray in a softer light and win a lighter sentence. The letters and
defense filings described Murray's compassion as a doctor, including
accepting lower payments from his mostly poor patients.
"There is
no question that the death of his patient, Mr. Jackson, was
unintentional and an enormous tragedy for everyone affected," defense
attorneys wrote in their sentencing memo.