Thursday 6 October 2011

Defense grills Jackson death investigator





>>> back at 108 8:10 with the latest from michael jackson 's doctor's trial. prosecutors played more of the recording made by conrad murray just before michael jackson 's death. jeff rossen is in los angeles with details. jeff, good morning to you.

>> reporter: good morning to you. we've been talking a lot this morning about the impact of steve jobs on this world and his innovation of the iphone has actually had a big impact on the trial of dr. conrad murray . you see there was an app on the iphone called i talk and it basically turns the iphone into a digital voice recorder. prosecutors say for some reason dr. conrad murray taped michael jackson on the iphone just weeks before his death. michael sounds drugged up. his voice is very deep. he's barely making any sense, and he opens up about his childhood. had you to myself

>> reporter: the protege was in pain, singing with the jackson 5 , and decades later -- what about sunrise what about rain

>> reporter: -- a confession from michael jackson , the man, recorded at his bed side by dr. conrad murray .

>> i didn't have a childhood. i had no childhood. heal the world. we are the world. will you be there? the lost children. in the songs i've written because, you know? i hurt. i hurt.

>> reporter: michael 's voice from the grave played for the jury as dr. conrad murray listened on. the mumbled ramblings, prosecutors say, of a sedated pop star just six weeks before his death. michael seemed focused.

>> when that door opens, you start that piano.

>> reporter: on his upcoming tour. beauty didn't do it. we have to be phenomenal.

>> reporter: and he kept talking about raising money for sick children.

>> they're sick because they're depressed. i care about them, them angels. god wants me to do it. i'm going to do it, conrad .

>> i knew you would.

>> it was extremely heart breaking. michael jackson loved life. he was vibrant. and just to reflect on the michael jackson whom i knew, and the one that was reduced to that tape, it was extremely heart breaking for me.

>> reporter: in court wednesday prosecutors showed still photos of drugs in michael 's bedroom, including this empty bottle of propofol under his night stand .

>> this was recovered from the floor?

>> yes.

>> reporter: then the prosecutor got theatrical, laying out bottle after bottle on a courtroom table, trying to convince the jury dr. murray didn't know when to stop, creating a mini pharmacy in michael 's mansion.

>> a trial about medication and prescription is normally very, very boring and dry stuff. the prosecution was brilliant in piling that on the desks and playing a tape all in one day in order to create a memorable scene for the jury.

>> reporter: and it is the garbled voice of michael jackson , his final words on the tape, that may haunt the jury.

>> you okay?

>> i am asleep.

>> reporter: it is chilling to hear that tape. by the way, there is another audiotape out there that could make some news this week. dr. conrad murray in his own words. now prosecutors plan to play his police interrogation for the jury sometime this week and use his own words against him.

>> all right. jeff rossen in los angeles , thank you very much. savannah is back now in her role as "today's" legal correspondent. star jones is a former prosecutor and legal commentator. ladies, good morning to you. take the hats off that you normally wear. become jurors right now. you're sitting in that jury box listening to that audiotape. you heard a snippet of it on opening day . now you've heard the whole thing. the sound of his voice, the slurred words, incoherent. what impact does it have?

>> i think my takeaway as a juror would be this is an incredibly tragic and sympathetic figure. i feel sorry for michael jackson when i hear this tape.

>> absolutely.

>> then you have to think about who in that scenario was in a position of power? it's dr. conrad murray . he was supposed to be taking care of this person. jackson comes across as a victim. to buy the defense theory that jackson actually was a sneaky drug addict who while lying in bed as soon as murray was out of the room dosed himself with lorazepam and propofol, when you hear that tape you think, could that guy have pulled that off?

>> do you feel the same thing, star?

>> i felt sad when i heard him start to talk about his childhood. it actually made sense to me why his mother may have taken this week to be away from the trial so that she wouldn't have to hear her dead son talk about how tragic his childhood was and how much he hurt. i think a juror is going to be sitting there thinking to themselves, why would you continue to give this obviously in pain man drugs?

>> i think it might even be worse than that. why wouldn't you at this moment rush this guy to a hospital? why wouldn't you get him in rehab? you can't wean somebody off drugs that intense.

>> instead prosecutors are saying two days later he is stockpiling more of this propofol, this powerful drug that ultimately caused his death.

>> so does the defense have to put forward, star or savannah, a concrete reason as to why conrad murray recorded this conversation?

>> i think so. to me it's the elephant in the room . from the moment i heard that tape in opening statements i immediately thought, why is this doctor recording this in this setting on a sunday morning? what possible innocent explanation might there be?

>> a trial lawyer told me one time that words are powerful but an image is even more powerful. what about that image of those medicine bottles and those i.v. bags laid out on that table?

>> we're taught to do that in a courtroom throughout, you know, being a prosecutor. when you can show a jury what you're talking about in terms of how much drugs, the type of drugs, the variety of drugs, there is no better impact on a jury's psyche.

>> a powerful image especially when contrasted with the defense theory that conrad murray was actually trying to wean off michael jackson from drugs. they'll argue that. the jurors will remember that picture.

>> savannah guthrie and star jones , ladies good to see you as always.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44799991/ns/today-entertainment/

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