Michael Jackson Manslaughter Trial Update

Michael Jackson Manslaughter Trial: Only Murray’s Prints Found on Propofol Vials, Medical Equipment

UPDATE: 4:05 p.m.: Court adjourned for the day. Today’s testimony came to a conclusion on a confusing note, as defense attorney Michael Flanagan pressed Anderson with questions about the last time Jackson urinated and how that would affect the traces of drugs found in his system upon his death. Anderson replied several times that he didn’t understand the question and Judge Michael Pastor sustained multiple objections from the prosecution and had to ask Flanagan to rephrase.

UPDATE: 3:45 p.m.: Anderson’s testimony veers into the extra-technical, as they talk ion trapping, parts-per-million, gross contents and other things that can only be determined in a lab. The criminalist testified that, among the seven drugs found in his system, there was propofol in Jackson’s blood and organs.

UPDATE 2:35 p.m.: The evidence includes a number of diagrams and drawings of syringes, tubing and other medical paraphernalia. Anderson confirms that traces of propofol, lidocaine and flumazenil were present in a syringe barrel and an IV system found in Michael Jackson’s room. Flumazenil is used to reverse the effects of sedatives, Anderson said. A 15-minute afternoon break was called at 2:40 p.m.

UPDATE 1:45 p.m.: Line by line, Anderson is walking the prosecution through the list of medications and drugs that were both tested for and found in Jackson’s system and doing his best to explain their possible reactions.

UPDATE 11:30 a.m.: Redirect falls back to the prosecution, and the district attorney did his best to get across the information that there is no such thing as a mistake-proof investigation. “Did you conduct a perfect investigation in this case?” he asked Fleak. “No.” “Have you ever?” “No.” “Have you done your best to accurately describe what you’ve seen and heard? “I have.” She was dismissed and prosecution proceeded to read out a three-page stipulation (facts agreed to by both sides) that confirmed that a print from one of Murray’s index fingers was found on a vial of propofol recovered from an IV stand next to Jackson’s bed. Moreover, Jackson’s fingerprints were found on none of the medical evidence collected from the room.

L.A. County Coroner toxicologist Dan Anderson was subsequently to the stand, and proceedings have since broken for lunch. His testimony will resume at 1:30 p.m.

UPDATE 10:45 a.m.: Defense attorney Ed Chernoff continues his attempt to catch Fleak out, asserting that she was neglectful to accurately collect and note evidence from Jackson’s bedroom. Of particular issue to Chernoff was her failure to mention the IV bag and stand in the room when she first entered it on June 25, 2009, only noting it in her case notes for the first time on June 29. “Is it a mistake?” she said. “I could’ve described it in more detail.” “You didn’t describe it at all,” Chernoff replied.

After showing photos of the bedroom, the defense also questioned Fleak on whether she ever took into evidence an open bottle of Naked juice that sat on Michael’s bedstand. She admitted that she did not, but defended their collection, saying that there was a difference between the case notes and the evidence log, and that the former was not intented to make note of every item found.

UPDATE 10:00 a.m.: L.A. County Coroner investigator Elissa Fleak is back on the stand, testifying about the drugs and drug paraphernalia she discovered in Michael’s bedroom and bathroom, with pictures getting shown of the syringes, disposable resuscitators and other items found. The defense is also pressing her on which rooms she searched in Jackson’s home and why. Court has recessed on a morning break and will testimony will resume at 10:30 a.m.

Over the past week, the prosecution has done its best to expose the laundry list diaper bag’s worth of prescription drugs that Conrad Murray had been administering to Michael Jackson. Today, the D.A.’s team will attempt to explain just why that combination was so lethal and how, exactly, each of the dosages interacted with each other.

Naturally, then, among those expected to take the stand today are a toxicology expert, as well as a coroner’s investigator. The prosecution has contended all along that the drugs, administered by Murray, killed Jackson. The doctor’s defense, however, claims that Murray was already in the process of weaning the pop star off of the meds and contend that Jackson himself self-administered the fatal dose of propofol on June 25, 2009, while Murray was out of the room.

The testimony resumes at 8:45 a.m. Pacific Time…