Dr. Conrad Murray ended his day in court Thursday pretty much the way he ended his day in court Wednesday — by getting raked over the coals by anesthesiology expert Dr. Steven Shafer.
Shafer, who on Wednesday rattled off 17 "egregious deviations" from standard care that Murray had committed, spent much of the mid-afternoon simulating how Murray admittedly administered the propofol to Jackson.
And his assessment wasn't pretty.
With an IV rig similar to the one found in Michael Jackson's home set up in the courtroom, Shafer testified that, had Murray possessed the means to measure the carbon dioxide building in Jackson’s system," or had he “seen the slowed breathing and could easily have turned off the propofol infusion," he might have stopped the process “with no injury to Michael Jackson."
Shafer heavily critiqued the delivery set-up Murray purportedly used, asserting,"There is no justification for using that [type of] infusion set — without an infusion pump.” Shafer called Murray's use of a spiked saline bag to deliver the propofol “an intrinsically dangerous set-up."
Walgren finished his direct examination of Shafer with a series of pointed questions about the procedures, asking Shafer each time if Murray was a direct cause of Jackson's death. In each case he got the answer, “Yes.”
Earlier in the day, Shafer testified that he had examined a number of scenarios in which Jackson might have taken propofol on the day of his death. Shafer opined that the only scenario that made sense, judging by the level of propofol in the singer's femural vein at the time was his death, was a 100-milliigram drip administered intravenously — much more than Murray told police he gave Jackson — and that the drug would have to be administered by Murray, given the logistics.
In an odd moment reported outside the courtroom, CNN correspondent Alan Duke witnessed a heated exchange between lead defense attorney Ed Chernoff and prosecution e witness Dr. Paul White. Duke hinted the “raw” and “heated” exchange was over witnesses taking the case personally.
In any event, as the defense begins to deploy its case tomorrow at a delayed start time of 12:45 p.m., Dr. Shafer has left them a substantial hole to crawl out of.
Read below for a full rundown of today's proceedings.
Previously….
The prosecution is expected to wrap its case in the involuntary manslaughter case against Dr. Conrad Murray on Thursday.
Murray's defense, meanwhile, will begin its presentation on Friday, and the case will likely go to the jury for deliberations next week, CNN.com reports.
Read more: Conrad Murray Trial, Day 13: Doctor Hammered by Expert Witness
Anesthesiology expert Steven Shafer strengthened the state's case against Murray with a full day of powerful testimony on Wednesday, which included the showing of a video about the proper way to administer the drug propofol.
The Los Angeles County coroner ruled Michael Jackson died of "acute propofol intoxication," and that sedatives were also a factor. Prosecutors contend Murray is criminally liable for Jackson's June 25, 2009 death because he recklessly administered the propofol, a potent surgical anesthetic drug, and was negligent in properly monitoring Jackson.
Shafer told the jury Jackson most likely died because his tongue blocked the back of his throat, and that a "simple chin lift" by Murray could have saved the singer.
Shafer, considered one of the foremost authorities on propofol, further detailed what he called 17 "egregious deviations" by Murray during his care of Jackson, including inadequate medical equipment to monitor Jackson and the fact that he administered propofol to the superstar for two months.
The anesthesiologist also said Murray never should have left Jackson without someone to monitor him on the day he died, not even for the two minutes Murray says he left Jackson's bedroom to go to the bathroom.
Read more: Michael Jackson, Conrad Murray and the Stripper
"No matter how full your bladder is, you don't leave the steering wheel," Shafer said comparing the situation to a driver going down a highway and leaving the wheel to go to the bathroom.
"If Dr. Murray had been at the head of the bed and next to Michael Jackson and saw Michael Jackson stop breathing, he would simply have opened up the route for air, either chin lift, something simple, or perhaps ventilate Michael Jackson's lungs with that mask and that squeeze bag that I showed you and then nothing would have happened. There would have been no adverse outcome at all."
Murray faces up to four years in prison and loss of his medical license if convicted, though CNN.com reports a new California law could mean his sentence would be reduced to two years and be served in a county jail.
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