As Michael Jackson’s lifeless body lay on a bed in his palatial mansion, a bodyguard obeyed a frantic doctor’s instructions to bag up medicine bottles and intravenous bags and shield the Jackson children from seeing their father — all before being told to call 911, court testimony revealed Wednesday. Alberto Alvarez said he was the first security guard to reach Jackson’s room after word came that something was wrong. He described a shocking scene.
The King of Pop was on his bed connected to an IV tube and a urinary catheter. His eyes and mouth were open, and Dr. Conrad Murray was leaning over him doing one-handed chest compressions to try to revive him. Alvarez said he was “frozen” at the sight. “I said, ‘Dr. Murray, what happened?’ And he said, ‘He had a reaction. He had a bad reaction,”’ Alvarez recalled.
The testimony came during a preliminary hearing to determine if Murray, the singer’s personal physician, will be tried on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Authorities contend Murray gave Jackson a lethal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol and other sedatives in the bedroom of his rented mansion before he died on June 25, 2009. Senneff testified that he asked Dr. Murray if Jackson had any underlying medical conditions twice and on the second time, Dr. Murray said the singer did not have any.
Senneff also testified that he asked the doctor if Jackson had given him any medication, and the doctor said he gave him just “a little bit of Lorazepam to help him sleep.” The paramedic said that when he and his co-worker attempted to move Jackson, the singer’s body was cool to the touch, he had “dry eyes” and his hands and feet had a blue tint to them. Senneff testified that his gut feeling was that Jackson hadn’t just gone into cardiac arrest, but more than 20 minutes had elapsed before they were called.
In his opening statement Tuesday, Walgren said Murray had waited as long as 21 minutes before paramedics were called and that Jackson had died before help was summoned. The testimony could support the prosecutors’ argument that Murray’s actions demonstrated “an extreme deviation from the standard of care” by administering propofol without the proper equipment, and also concealing it and botching efforts to resuscitate the singer.
Murray, a Houston cardiologist, has pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys have contended he did not give Jackson anything that should have killed the singer. Defense lawyers did not deliver an opening statement at the hearing. Murray could face up to four years in prison if convicted.
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