A search warrant affidavit sworn by a Los Angeles detective provides a detailed account of the police probe into the death of Michael Jackson, whose doctor told cops that he had been treating the pop star's insomnia by intravenously administering the powerful anesthetic propofol in the weeks before Jackson's June 25 death. The affidavit of LAPD Detective Orlando Martinez was included in a search warrant application filed last month in Houston, Texas, where Dr. Conrad Murray maintained an office and a storage unit. A copy of Martinez's affidavit, prepared last month, can be found below. Murray, reportedly the subject of a criminal probe stemming from Jackson's death, told investigators that he "felt that Jackson may have been forming an addiction to" propofol, and tried to "wean Jackson off the drug." The affidavit notes that Jackson "was very familiar with the drug and referred to it as his 'milk.'" The affidavit also quotes an L.A. coroner's official saying that preliminary toxicology results showed that "Jackson's cause of death was due to lethal levels of propofol." The coroner has classified Jackson's death a homicide, according to a law enforcement source cited today by the Associated Press, which reported that the ruling makes it "more likely" that criminal charges will be filed against the 56-year-old Murray.Not to say Murray doesn't deserve criminal punishment, but wasn't he acceding to Jackson's demands?
August 25, 2009
Michael Jackson's death a "homicide"... you mean, in the sense of assisted suicide?
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Dr. Conrad Murray maintained an office and a storage unit.
Residency requirements?
"The dead patient demanded that I overdose him" is hardly a defense worthy of recommendation, now is it Ann?
Jackson hands down wins the all time Drug Abuser Hall of Fame trophy for his lifetime habits. But it surely must be somebody else's fault, or his disciples will have to admit that he was not invulnerable because he wished it to be so. Hollywood rules!
This idea that patients tell doctors what to do is outrageous.
The dead patient demanded that I overdose him" is hardly a defense worthy of recommendation, now is it Ann?
But it will be just fine when the government decides it for you or gently but firmly pushes you to decide to "not be a burden to your family" or society anymore.
Assisted suicide is what Obama care has in mind for Veterans and Seniors
word verification = dyingsl
I kid you not!
One of the drugs listed on the search warrant application as being found in Jackson's bedroom: Flomax.
It looks as if Little Man Tate had gotten too big for his britches. Sort of unlikely at age 50, perhaps a sign that Jackson's body was getting prematurely worn out?
Peter
How does "homicide" work? Is there a legal version that tracks the layman's idea of "accident"? Because that's what Jackson's death sounds like to me. An accident.
Is this Med Mal subject to a Damages Cap?
"homicide"... you mean, in the sense of assisted suicide?"
Homicide, in the sense of death being the result of another person's acts.
Were I the King of Pop, I would never even so much as consider suicide by anesthetic.
I'd figure out some way to get myself all explodicated while performing on stage.
Bits and pieces of my royal magnificence spattering all over my many adoring fans.
Cool!
I have to disagree. It isn't a patient's job to know the possible affect of a drug prescribed to them by their doctor!
They showed the drugs given the night before he od’d on the news last night (hate it when I don’t have the remote at the gym!). He got drugs every hour or two, all night long. That’s just strange. That doctor should have curtailed his drug usage, but honestly…when you’ve got the kind of money Jackson had, you can get any kind of drugs you want. Maybe he would have had an od years ago from self-medicating if he didn’t have a doc on staff. Who knows?
Bissage said, "I'd figure out some way to get myself all explodicated while performing on stage."
Two words: Pepsi Cola. I don't think he'd want to go through that again.
-The Other Jeremy
Murray should be charged for medical maleficence and manslaughter, but murder? Why would he murder his cash cow? Makes no sense, but then LA politics never does.
The road to death by medication overdose is paved with good intentions.
Most of his friends and the doctors, most, were trying to relieve his suffering, which not even propofol could diminish, except overnight.
Only the Big Sleep offered eternal comfort, he may have thought. There are better ways of exorcising those demons, but self-annihilation through chemistry has the longest track record.
Does propofol make your skin white?
Every time I come across Jackson's death and "condition" I think of Mark Twain's short story. Jackson didn't need drugs, he needed an appetite cure.
His death was what happens when appetites are fully encouraged, and enabled by all those who surround the person. Jackson's recent existence shows that the seven deadly sins aren't just punished in some eternal hell. The hell enters into the present and spoils all that might be good.
I saw The Madness of King George again a few weeks back, and the Jackson situation totally came to mind again. Jackson needed to be restrained and pushed back into being human. Though, maybe it was too late, and all the vultures around him were far too eager to pluck off the remaining bits of flesh until nothing remaining.
Alpha Liberal has assured us that conspiracy theories are not acceptable analysis. That leaves malice aforethought. So what made the good doctor so angry at poor little Michael, the boy child in charge? IMO there was a conspiracy when that much Money was at the table and Jackson was within a few months of needing the Final Dose administered to him anyway. The whole London Show was a good cover story. Jackson's creditors wanted payment certain, and not delayed until later. A dead man gets no Bankruptcy delays.
Correction:That leaves OUT malice aforethought.
"Not to say Murray doesn't deserve criminal punishment, but wasn't he acceding to Jackson's demands?"
A physician like Pogo would have to be the one to answer this authoritatively, but I thought that medical doctors were sort of obligated to refuse to administer self-destructive treatment if requested by a patient. Of course, the devil's in the details, and the issue of whether a given course can indeed be perceived as self destructive before the fact is a whole other question, but in cases where it's clear, aren't doctors at least ethically mandated to refuse? Or going beyond ethics, is there an actual professional rule that compels that?
"I thought that medical doctors were sort of obligated to refuse to administer self-destructive treatment if requested by a patient."
True, well, except in Oregon and Denmark. ...so far.
Plastic surgery is another exception that proves the rule.**
**I now actually understand this phrase, thanks to an Althouse poster
Manslaughter is homicide, as are all crimes resulting in death.
Could you be confusing homicide and murder?
"Not to say Murray doesn't deserve criminal punishment, but wasn't he acceding to Jackson's demands?"
There is a reason why prescription drugs are not available without a doctor's OK. If you should not have them, theoretically you do not get them. Otherwise all drugs would be available OTC.
So the patient could demand till the cows come home, but it's the doctor's job to say "no" if the drugs will be harmful.
I know a person can get mighty desperate if he can't sleep. Few things are as miserable as the inability to fall asleep. But if the doctor is having to administer more and more of a toxic drug to get the desired effect, he needs to pull back in time to jump off that train and try a different tack (how's that for metaphors!) before he kills his patient. There's really no other logical ending.
African-Americans are not responsible for their actions.
"This idea that patients tell doctors what to do is outrageous."
The doctor is certainly responsible for what he does and should not be going along with the patient's demands. But that doesn't mean the patient is not also responsible.
This situation seems to fit the old golden rule bromide: "He who has the gold makes the rules."
By giving the man with the gold what he wanted and was asking for, Murray traded in his integrity and personal responsibility for continued employment and the potential of financial gain.
"Sui-homicide" was the term that seemed to fit when I read last night's report.
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