California v. Murray

The trial of Conrad Murray (People of the State of California v. Conrad Robert Murray) was the American criminal trial of Michael Jackson's personal physician, Conrad Murray, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter for causing the pop singer's death on June 25, 2009, from a massive overdose of the general anesthetic propofol. The trial, which started on September 27, 2011, was held in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Los Angeles, California, before Judge Michael Pastor.

The prosecutors in the case (David Walgren and Deborah Brazil, both Los Angeles deputy district attorneys), in their opening statement, told jurors: "misplaced trust in the hands of Murray cost Jackson his life". Murray's defense counsel (Edward Chernoff, Matthew Alford, J. Michael Flanagan and Nareg Gourjian) claimed Jackson, who was tired and under pressure from rehearsing, took eight tablets of lorazepam (Ativan), a sedative. "When Dr. Murray left the room, Jackson self-administered a dose of propofol that, with the lorazepam, created a perfect storm in his body that killed him instantly. The whole thing is tragic, but the evidence is not that Dr. Murray did it", Chernoff said. Testimony during the trial showed Murray stayed with Jackson at least six nights a week and was regularly asked—and sometimes begged—by the insomniac singer to give him drugs powerful enough to put him to sleep.

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actor. Called the King of Pop, his contributions to music and dance, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades.

The eighth child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his elder brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon as a member of the Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971. In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller" from his 1982 album Thriller, were credited with breaking down racial barriers and with transforming the medium into an art form and promotional tool. The popularity of these videos helped to bring the then-relatively-new television channel MTV to fame. His 1987 album Bad spawned the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror", and "Dirty Diana", becoming the first album to have five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. With videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream", he continued to innovate the medium throughout the 1990s, as well as forging a reputation as a touring solo artist. Through stage and video performances, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive sound and style has influenced numerous artists of various music genres.

Murray

Murray ( listen ) may refer to:

People with the name Murray

Conrad

Conrad may refer to:

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Places

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See also

Don Lemon

Don Lemon (born March 1, 1966) is an American journalist and television news anchor. He is based in New York and currently hosts CNN Tonight with Don Lemon.

Early life

Lemon was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1966. Lemon was educated at Baker High School, a public high school in the small city of Baker. He majored in broadcast journalism at Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Louisiana State University. While in college, Lemon worked as a news assistant at WNYW in New York City.

Professional life

In his early career, Lemon reported as a weekend anchor for WBRC in Birmingham, Alabama, and WCAU in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; anchor and investigative reporter for KTVI St. Louis; and anchor for WBRC Birmingham, Alabama.

Lemon reported for NBC News' New York City operations, including working as a correspondent for Today and NBC Nightly News and an anchor on Weekend Today and MSNBC. In 2003, he began at NBC O&O station WMAQ-TV (5 in Chicago), and was a reporter as well as local news co-anchor.