Inside Dr Conrad Murray’s head

JURORS who stared at the stoic face of Michael Jackson’s doctor across a courtroom for two weeks have had their first glimpse at his personality, and their impressions of him could be as important as if he had taken the stand himself.

A taped interview that Dr Conrad Murray had with police two days after Jackson’s death provides an insight into the doctor’s thinking in the panicked moments when he realised he was losing one of the world’s biggest superstars.’I loved Mr Jackson,’ he was heard saying in a soft voice. ‘He was my friend. He opened up to me in different ways. I wanted to help him … I cared for him. I had no intention of hurting him. I did not want him to fail.’Prosecutors played the interview to jurors on Friday at Murray’s involuntary manslaughter trial. Murray has pleaded not guilty.The tape provided a powerful crescendo for the prosecution’s case against Murray. But legal experts say the tape’s effect may be as contradictory as his story.’The prosecution benefited greatly from being able to portray Murray as a liar,’ legal analyst and trial attorney Royal Oakes said. ‘The key factor is his saying he was away from Jackson’s bedside for only two minutes has been contradicted by testimony and cell phone records.’’To have him lie to detectives about how long he was away was incriminating,’ Oakes said.In the tape, he lied about taking all safety precautions, Oakes said. Testimony has shown that lifesaving equipment was not present at the Jackson home.On the other hand, Oakes said, the interview conducted by two detectives outside a noisy hotel banquet room allowed Murray to tell his story without being challenged.’It’s a different effect to tell the story with gentle prodding from detectives as opposed to the brutal shredding of his account that would happen if he took the stand,’ he said.Murray’s lawyer, Ed Chernoff, was present and frequently added comments, telling his client to add details he might have left out.Detectives sounded confused when Murray mentioned he had been giving Jackson ‘milk’ every night. ‘He said, ‘Please, please give me some milk so that I can sleep, because I know that this is all that really works for me’,’ Murray said.’Hot milk or warm?’ one of them asks naively.’It’s just some medicine … that he is familiar with,’ Murray said.Asked to name the medicine, he said, ‘propofol’ and detectives asked him to spell it.’And what is this propofol?’ asked Detective Stephen Smith.’It is a sedative that could also be used for anaesthesia,’ said Murray.In fact, propofol is a powerful anaesthetic used for surgery in hospital settings. – Nampa-AP