Jacksons v AEG Timeline Legal

A generous and kind doctor: Murray trial update

By | Published on Thursday 27 October 2011

Conrad Murray

Conrad Murray might be totally inept, but he’s also “generous and kind”, defence lawyers told the court hearing the doctor’s manslaughter case yesterday.

Well, I’m paraphrasing slightly, but after weeks of experts lining up to criticise Murray for even thinking of administering the dangerous surgical anaesthetic propofol as a cure for insomnia in a domestic setting, yesterday a number of former patients took to the stand to pay tribute to the doctor accused of causing Michael Jackson’s death. Andrew Guest, treated by Murray for a heart condition, said he thought Murray wasn’t “getting a fair shake”, adding: “I’m alive today because of that man”.

Others countered those who have implied Murray took the gig as Jackson’s personal physician – and possibly pandered to willingly to the singer’s demands – out of greed. Some noted Murray was known to work for free for hard up patients, while another told how he had opened a cardiology practice at a residential home for mostly poor elderly people in Houston. One resident of that home, Ruby Mosely, told the court: “If this man had been greedy, he never would have come to an area – a community like Acres Homes – where he was making less than when he was in Vegas”.

Five former patients testified in total. One, Gerry Causey, commended Murray’s approach and generosity, adding that the doctor became his friend after operating on him.

Of course it could be argued that Murray’s “generosity” was possibly his weakness, making him prone to give in to Jackson’s desperate pleas for prescription medication, when another doctor may have said no. It seems unlikely that, when the jury begin deliberating next week, yesterday’s string of character witnesses will, on their own, overcome the many criticisms of Murray’s conduct outlined by the prosecution, though they may well mend some of the damage done to the doctor’s reputation outside the courtroom.

The case continues.



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