Lawyers for Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray say that he now regrets not testifying on his own behalf during his trial for involuntary manslaughter.
Attorney J. Michael Flanagan and Valerie Wass said that they retrieved the message while visiting Murray on the third anniversary of the pop star’s death. He began his four-year jail sentence in the Los Angeles County Jail last November.
During the six-week trial, prosecutors presented evidence proving that Murray negligently administered the surgical anesthetic propofol to Jackson as a sleep aid. They also said the doctor delayed the process of getting emergency responders to Jackson’s home when the star was found unconscious. Prosecutors accused Murray of not notifying medical personnel that he gave Jackson the anesthetic.
Defense lawyers argued that the singer was already addicted to the drug and likely gave himself an extra dose as well as took additional sedatives after Murray administered propofol.
Throughout the trial, Dr. Murray never took the stand. A decision he now tells his attorneys that he regrets.
"Now he says that the biggest mistake he made in the trial of the case was not testifying," Flanagan said. "We had so many gaps in the case that needed to be filled, that could only be supplied by Dr. Murray."
Flanagan believes that there are elements that Dr. Murray could have provided that added to his defense, since he was the only one in the room at the time of Jackson’s death.
If the verdict was reversed on the grounds of error by law, Murray would be allowed to take the stand and share the missing information.
Flanagan and Wass believe that social media may have swayed jurors during the trial since it was such a high profile case.
"I think during the trial, it would have been difficult not to go on Twitter and see anything (about the case)," Wass said.
Murray’s lawyers don’t expect the doctor to serve more than two years of his sentence and could be released before his appeal develops.
