Verdict Reached In Michael Jackson Involuntary Manslaughter Case: UPDATE: Guilty

Conrad Murray, who is on trial for the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson is facing a lengthy prison sentence if the jury comes back with a guilty verdit. The verdict to be released at 1PM PST.

A jury has reached a verdict in the involuntary manslaughter case against Michael Jackson's doctor. Court officials say it will be read about 1 p.m. PST.

The verdict came Monday in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray.

Prosecutors depicted Murray as a reckless physician who abandoned Jackson while he was under the effects of the powerful anesthetic propofol on June 25, 2009.

The testimony that has been proffered paints Murray in an awful light and makes one wonder how he he can sleep at night following Jackson's death. It appears that he didn't use customary and reasonable medical practices in giving Jackson propofol, and then couldn't provide sufficient care when Jackson most needed him. His failings extended to the 911 call and giving emergency personnel information they needed that could have saved Jackson.

UPDATE:
The jury found Murray found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death.

Manslaughter Charges Being Pursued In Michael Jackson's Death

According to reports, it looks like law enforcement may be preparing to charge Michael Jackson's personal physician with manslaughter in connection with the star's death.

The source initially said Dr. Conrad Murray could be arrested as soon as next Wednesday -- but investigators have decided to execute one more search warrant, likely at a Los Angeles pharmacy, next week in an attempt to gather more evidence against him. The arrest is now expected the following week.

Murray isn't the only doctor who faces criminal charges in connection with Jackson's death on June 25. A law enforcement source told FOXNews.com that Jackson's longtime dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein, will be hit with charges related to medical malpractice. Investigators are still building their case against Klein, and he will not be arrested for at least another two weeks, the source said.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's office is currently in talks with investigators about whether they will offer Murray the option of surrendering in Los Angeles, or if he will be arrested in Houston, where he is currently staying.

Michael Jackson's Doctor Under Investigation: Manslaughter Charges?

Investigators are focusing on the actions of Michael Jackson's personal physician and it would appear that manslaughter charges are on the horizon.

Michael Jackson's personal doctor is the target of the manslaughter investigation into the singer's death, according to court documents filed Thursday, the day after agents seized items from the physician's Houston clinic.

A search warrant approved by a Houston judge allowed authorities to seek "property or items constituting evidence of the offense of manslaughter that tend to show that Dr. Conrad Murray committed the said criminal offense."

According to the warrant filed in Harris County District Court, authorities were looking for "items constituting evidence of the offense of manslaughter that tend to show that Dr. Conrad Murray committed the said criminal offense," the Los Angeles Times reported.

A receipt for the search warrant detailed items seized when federal drug agents and Los Angeles police descended on Murray's clinic Wednesday. Among them: 27 tablets of the weight loss drug phentermine, a tablet of the muscle relaxant clonazepam, two hard drives, notices from the IRS and a controlled substance registration.

Murray's lawyer, Edward Chernoff, referred queries to the statement he made a day earlier in which he confirmed a search warrant had been executed and that none of the items seized had previously been requested by authorities.

Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Officer Bruce Borihanh said he could confirm a search warrant was served but had no other comment.

Murray's actions and version of events seemed sketchy, and Jackson could have died as a result of a bad reaction to one or more medications that were prescribed to him.

Jacksonian Economics

Today, a memorial will be held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center in honor of the recently deceased Michael Jackson. It will be a spectacle.

I don't question the need for a memorial. His passing touched millions of his fans and they would like the opportunity to have a public gathering to celebrate his life.

The problem isn't the memorial per se, but the cost.

Jackson's estate can't exactly afford this, and neither can Los Angeles. Overtime costs for policing the event is expected to run into the millions. AEG, the music promoter is running the memorial (they had planned on running the 50-date concert tour later this summer).

In that respect, Jackson's economic woes mirror that of the state of California. Jackson's fame brought massive fortune his way. He was able to buy anything and everything to his heart's content, and even then it wasn't enough. He bought the Neverland Ranch and stocked it with a menagerie of animals to allow him the childhood he never had since he was in show business from such an early age.

No one ever told him no.

No one ever told him that spending to such excess might come back to haunt him as he might suffer economic setbacks.

Well, there were setbacks, and the sex scandals and albums that didn't match earlier expectations meant that Jackson had to leverage assets to maintain his lifestyle.

It was unsustainable. The move to hold a 50 concert run in London was hoped to raise capital to help unsaddle Jackson's business ventures of their massive debt. That didn't happen as Jackson died on the eve of starting the concert run.

His estate will have to defend such claims, including the handling of the Beatles collection, which is co-owned by Sony.

If all of that sounds familiar, consider that this too is the problem with profligate spending by California and all too many other states around the nation.

States spent lavishly when times were flush, made bad business decisions, and hoped that taxpayers would bail them out via tax rate hikes that would increase revenues.

That didn't come to pass as the recession sapped consumer spending and tax revenues dropped precipitously. California faces a huge budget deficit and no solution in sight.

California doesn't have Jackson's rabid fan base that is willing to turn out for his memorial. California's fiscal demise will occur with a whimper.

California can't get banks to sign off on its IOUs, and its fiscal situation continues sliding into insolvency.

Michael Jackson News Roundup

Investigators are still trying to figure out how Jackson died and a toxicology report is pending, but one item stands out; the extraordinarily awful CPR treatment by Jackson's personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray who attempted to revive Jackson and the unconscionable delay in calling 911 for more than 30 minutes. Murray is a graduate of Meharry Medical College of Nashville, TN, class of 1989. There are no reports of any disciplinary measures taken against Murray by any state health departments where he is licensed.

The phone call to 911 operators reveals one of the problems in Jackson's last minutes:

"Do you have him on the floor? Where's he at right now?" the operator asked.

"He's on the bed sir," the caller responded. "He's on the bed. We need [paramedics]."

"Let's get him on the floor," the operator responded.

During his appearance on "Good Morning America" on Monday, Murray's attorney Ed Chernoff confirmed that Murray began administering CPR while Michael Jackson was lying on a bed.

"He did administer CPR on the bed," Chernoff said. "The bed is a very firm bed. He braced Michael Jackson's back with his hand under his back and compressed his chest with the other hand."

The American Heart Association recommends that cardiac arrest victims lie on a hard surface while receiving CPR -- usually either a backboard or the floor.

The reason for this, said Dr. Benjamin Abella of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Resuscitation Science, is backed by research that suggests performing compressions while the patient is lying on a surface that is softer than the ground essentially robs the compressions of the power needed to keep blood flowing through the body until help arrives.

I've taken several CPR courses over the years, and they've always stressed that the person must be on a firm surface - the floor being the best location because you need a firm surface to provide proper chest compressions. This doctor seems to have ignored basic CPR guidelines and thankfully the 911 operator reminded him of that although some of the people ABC News contacted seemed to think that Jackson's frail condition may have been a mitigating factor to enable Dr. Murray to treat him in this fashion. Considering that he allegedly put one hand under Jackson's chest while providing compressions with the other, there is no way that he could have provided adequate compressions in that fashion.

An adult CPR generally requires chest compressions of 1-2 inches, and we're counseled not to worry about causing chest fractures of the sternum because you can always recover from fractured ribs - if you're dead, there's no recovery.

However, far more troubling is the delay in calling for assistance. No one is quite sure how long Jackson was down before Dr. Murray started CPR. Add another half hour to the time, and Jackson's golden hour for treatment probably expired long before he was brought into the hospital. The delay meant that any chance to revive Jackson was long passed.

It also raises further questions as to what kind of medical equipment and drugs Dr. Murray had at his disposal in the rented mansion where Jackson was staying. Should he have had an AED and drugs necessary to revive patients, especially because of the side effects from some of the medications prescribed to Jackson? Demerol can produce heart and respiratory complications, so it would behoove a medical practitioner to be prepared for such an outcome.

Meanwhile, his fans will get a refund or a souvenir from the now canceled concerts.

Also, Jackson's parents file to administer his estate.

Jackson’s parents wasted little time demanding authority over their son’s financially strained empire and guardianship of their fatherless grandchildren. The big question is who, if anyone, will contest them?
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Early Monday — just four days after the death of the King of Pop — lawyers for Katherine and Joe Jackson won temporary custody of Michael Jackson’s three children and moved to become administrators of his estate.

Judge Mitchell Beckloff granted 79-year-old Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of the children, who range in age from 7 to 12. He also gave her control over some of her son’s personal property that is now in the hands of an unnamed third party. But the judge did not immediately rule on her requests to take charge of the children’s and Jackson’s estates.

The swiftness of the legal motions underscore the fact that Jackson’s death leaves a vacuum if he died without a valid will. If no will is filed, the number of potential claimants that could emerge seeking custody of the children or a piece of his empire are many.

The circus atmosphere around Jackson's estate will continue for some time. I can only hope that his kids are cared for and looked after in a responsible manner.

Filipino Inmates Pay Tribute to Michael Jackson

You have to see this to believe it. Filipino prison inmate had taken to staging mass dance routines as part of their daily workouts and it became a YouTube sensation. Their biggest hit? Michael Jackson's Thriller.

With Jackson's death, they've staged a tribute to Jackson:



The full story is here.

Tourists flocked to the prison in Cebu, south of Manila, Saturday for an elaborate tribute performed by hundreds of inmates in orange prison garb who became an Internet sensation in 2007 for their jailhouse "Thriller" performance.

The original performance - featuring 1,500 inmates in matching prison uniforms doing Jackson's famous 1982 routine - has been viewed more than 24 million times on YouTube.

"Even as a kid, he was already my idol," said Crisanto Nieri, 38, who danced Jackson's part in 'Thriller' in the performance and is serving seven years on drug charges.

The original dance began as a exercise routine for the jail birds.

The inmates dedicated the tribute performance to Jackson's family.

A Moment of Perspective

Ahmadinejad and his loyal mullahs are busy cracking down against the opposition, and the world's focus is not on the brutality of the regime, but instead on the death of Michael Jackson.

In fact, Jackson's death may have accomplished something that even Iran's Ahmadinejad could have only dreamed of - it reduced Twitter to a trickle.

Twitter crashed as users saw multiple "fail whales" -- the illustrations the site uses as error messages -- user FoieGrasie posting, "Irony: The protesters in Iran using twitter as com are unable to get online because of all the posts of 'Michael Jackson RIP.' Well done." The site's status blog said that Twitter had had to temporarily disable its search results, saved searches and trend topics.

Outstanding! A music legend dies, and it nearly takes down one of the key communications efforts by the opposition to the Islamofascists in Tehran because everyone was rushing to say RIP to Michael Jackson. If only so many people cared for the millions at risk of subjugation in Iran today.

Instead, the media is devoting nearly all of the above the fold coverage to Jackson's death. It's a frakking circus, but I guess the public loves a circus.

They're getting one.

Keep in mind what else should otherwise be above the fold for news coverage because of its importance going forward. Jackson's death happened just as the House is set to vote on the cap and trade tax that will sap the US economy for years to come, and is preparing a health makeover that will undermine the delivery of health care for generations to come. After all, if the government can't even deliver on existing promises of health care to US veterans, why should anyone else think that they'll deliver quality care to everyone else?

The media thinks that Jackson's death will sell papers and move magazines off moribund store shelves, and they're probably right. Of course, the same media which claims that they're supposed to be printing all the news that fits is underplaying the important votes set to take place in Congress that will hike the costs of goods and services for years to come via the cap and trade tax hike.

Deaths of Legends

Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett both passed away today. One was a shock. One was expected.

Both died far too soon.

Farrah Fawcett had been suffering from anal cancer and had been in declining health for some time.



Michael Jackson's death comes as a tremendous surprise. He was rushed to UCLA Medical Center in cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead a short time later. No word as to the cause of death.

Jackson's musical career was the stuff of legend. His album Thriller was the best selling movie of all time. The song itself and the video are groundbreaking.

Both will be missed.

UPDATE:
This report suggests that Jackson may have died following the injection of Demerol.

An Emergency Room source at UCLA hospital said Jackson aides told medics he had collapsed after an injection of potent Demerol — similar to morphine.

A Jacko source said: “Shortly after taking the Demerol he started to experience slow shallow breathing.

“His breathing gradually got slower and slower until it stopped.

“His staff started mouth-to-mouth and an ambulance was called which got there in eight minutes “Butfound he was in full respiratory arrest, no breathing and no pulse. They started full CPR and rushed him to hospital.

“When he arrived they started resuscitation, giving him heart shocks and inserted a breathing tube and other supportive measures to try and save his life.