Murray's Conviction: Just What The Doctor Ordered

CLEVELAND - Yesterday at 1:17PM PST, a stone faced Conrad Murray sat in a Los Angeles courtroom as his criminal trial reached its conclusion with a guilty verdict in the death of Michael Jackson.

Talk about gratifying.

Murray, a West coast-based cardiologist was hired in the Spring of 2009 to serve as MJ's personal physician at an astounding $150,000 a month. The legendary entertainer hand picked Murray as he prepped for a highly anticipated London concert tour, but that decision proved horrible. It was under Murray's careless care that Jackson died on June 25, 2009 of a lethal mix of prescription drugs. Once his death was ruled a homicide, Murray became the obvious focus of the crime.

Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, which is considered to be a minor felony. Indeed, he faces only a max sentence of four years in prison but experts expect him to serve far less time than that, maybe even without actual jail time. That of course would be monumentally disappointing to Michael's international fan base as well as his family.

The jury deliberated for 10 hours before reaching their verdict in a case that proved to be divisive among Murray's dedicated former patients, medical experts and MJ's millions of fans and supporters. On one side, people have declared Murray to simply be a fall guy for the iconic performer's death in light of Jackson's own relentless pursuit of the dangerous drugs that ultimately killed him. It's that line of thinking that fueled the defense theory that Michael may have self administered the fatal dose of Propofol in a desperate attempt to treat his extreme insomnia. The milky substance is said to be a highly effective anesthetic, but should only be administered in a highly monitored medical setting such as a hospital.

During the critical moments when Jackson stopped breathing, the so-called Dr. Murray made numerous bad choices in handling the dire situation. Experts testified that he made 17 deviations from the standard of care which, in the world of law amounts to "criminal negligence" which is what is known as causation. That is essentially what made Murray's actions criminal since they led to the death of a human being.

It frustrates me to hear people trying to cut Murray some slack. These are the "intelligent" people that say Michael Jackson was too rich and well connected to be turned down on his supposedly frequent requests for these drugs. Their reasoning is that if Murray hadn't given him the drugs, MJ would have ditched him and found someone who would give them to him. Furthermore, many people say that "drug dealers" give their "customers" drugs all the time, but no one is trying to imprison the dealer if the customer dies.

Idiots.

First off, a "street dealer" of drugs is not at all comparable to a medical doctor. A street dealer is simply trying to make a fast buck at the expense of others. That dealer has no recourse, conscience or obligation to act responsibly. A doctor takes an oath to do right by his patients, act in their best interest and treat their life and health with great care. Whether Michael Jackson asked or begged for harmful drugs, it was up to Murray to be "the adult in the room" and flatly tell him 'no.' If MJ went to another doctor, it then becomes that doctor's responsibility to turn him down as well. If MJ in fact did miraculously dose himself with the fatal amount, it still falls to Murray to take blame because he was the "professional" in charge. Patients, even legendary ones should never be counted on to know what's best for themselves. That's the reason the doctors are the doctors  and the patients are not.

But too many people are too dumb to understand this simple thing.

I was overjoyed when Judge Pastor agreed with lead prosecutor David Walgren's suggestion that Murray be remanded and jailed without bail pending sentencing (on Nov. 29). There was a certain poetic justice seeing the "good doctor" handcuffed in his chair as bailiffs moved quickly to take him into custody. And even though I know he has a good chance at successfully getting some relief in the appeals process, this serves a temporary sliver of justice. Because even if Murray could be given a 100 year sentence, it wouldn't bring Michael back to us.

In the end, Murray behaved on that morning as an incompetent doctor preoccupied with taking to his coterie of women on the phone instead of tending to his dying patient. In that respect, he was just asking for trouble.

Now he's got it.