The Murray trial

The prosecution’s case was that Murray gave Jackson propofol in a bedroom without proper monitoring equipment, left him alone, and delayed calling for help. [1][3] The defense argued that Jackson, desperate for sleep, gave himself an extra dose while Murray was out of the room.

The jury convicted Murray on 7 November 2011. The appeals court rejected his challenges and found the evidence of gross negligence sufficient. [2]

At sentencing Judge Michael Pastor gave him the maximum of four years and criticized a “money for medicine madness”, noting the $150,000 a month Murray was to be paid. [4]

The strongest version of Murray’s defense is that Jackson was a long-time user of sedatives who could have swallowed lorazepam or given himself propofol while the doctor stepped away, and that no one can prove which hand pushed the final dose. [1][2]

The prosecution’s answer, which the jury accepted and the appeals court left standing, was that a doctor who sets up propofol in a home without proper monitoring and then leaves his patient is responsible for the danger he creates, whoever pushed the last dose. [3] On the law, the self-dosing theory was a defense to murder, not to manslaughter, and Murray was charged with manslaughter.