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Jacksons v AEG Timeline Top Stories
Are LA police planning a murder charge over Jacko?
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 20 July 2009
So, according to the News Of The World, police investigating Michael Jackson’s death will press second-degree murder charges as soon as this week, and they’ve presumably been hacking into the LAPD’s voicemail system, so they should know.
According to the tab, the first set of toxicology test results on Jacko’s body suggest that, as expected, the singer died of an injected overdose of a prescription painkiller, most likely Diprivan. The second-degree murder charges would be made against whoever administered the drug, with reports suggesting it’s the US Drug Enforcement Administration who are encouraging the police to make an arrest.
The NoW claims police have already told the Jackson family about their intent to arrest whoever injected Jackson with the painkiller – as previously reported, the most likely suspect is the singer’s personal physician Dr Conrad Murray, even though he continues to deny administering any drugs prior to his former employer’s death, and despite the fact police have previously said the medic was not a suspect.
The tabloid quotes a friend of Jackson, Terry Harvey, as saying: “The autopsy shows that Michael died of a drug overdose with Diprivan and a range of pills in his stomach. He had needle marks on his neck and all over his body. The authorities have told the family the Drug Enforcement Administration are pushing for a criminal charge. It is likely to be second-degree murder, due to the actions which led to his death. They have been assured that someone, or maybe more than one person, will be brought to trial. The family are working with the DEA and Los Angeles Police Department to work out which doctor prescribed Michael these drugs and how far back this serious problem runs”.
Harvey adds that the Jacksons are also considering a civil lawsuit – presumably for negligence – against any medic accused of causing the cardiac arrest that killed Michael. If the offending medic proved to be Murray, that might also mean a lawsuit would be filed against AEG Live who were paying the doctor, though the tour promoter’s top man Randy Phillips has previously said it was Jackson himself who insisted Murray be hired as his personal medic.
Harvey continued: “The family is speaking about whether there is enough evidence to take a private lawsuit against the promoters or the doctors involved. Once the criminal charges are announced, the family will file for a wrongful death lawsuit. I can see Joe filing a lawsuit against anyone who is found to have caused fatal harm to his beloved son. He and the rest of the family are serious about getting to the bottom of his son’s death and insists it’s foul play. It’s no secret that AEG appointed a doctor to look after Michael’s welfare”.
It’s not clear if the expected arrest would rely on the full results from the aforementioned toxicology tests being available. It had been thought those results may be available this week – ahead of schedule – but that is now looking less likely. The LA coroner has reportedly told the Associated Press that it could be another two weeks before the full results are released.
