Legal Commentary

Dr. Conrad Murray Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter

By Jeralyn

Dr. Conrad Murray has been charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson. The press release from the LA District Attorney's office reads:

Dr. Murray "did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson ... in the commission of an unlawful act, not a felony; and in the commission of a lawful act which might have produced death, in an unlawful manner, and without due caution and circumspection."

It's a media circus in L.A. Michael Jackson's parents, and siblings Jermaine and La Toya are at the courthouse for he brief court appearance, set for 1:30 pm. PT. Dr. Murray will voluntarily surrender and be released immediately on bond. Hopefully no perp walk. [More...]

Given the charge, the case will become about "due caution and circumspection" and acceptable medical standards. In other words, dueling experts.

The autopsy report was released today and TMZ has a copy. It finds Jackson's death a homicide based on:

1. Circumstances indicate the Propofol and the benzodiazepines were administered by another.

2. Propofol was administered in a non-hospital setting without any appropriate medical indication.

3. The standard of care for administering Propofol was not met. Recommended equipment for patient monitoring, precision dosing and resuscitation was not present.

4. The circumstances do not support self-administration of Propofol.

Update: The full autopsy report is here.

Here's the video of his court appearance.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 08, 2010 (boomark / email).