Prosecutors on Monday (October 31) forced an expert defense witness to admit that Michael Jackson's doctor made significant errors when he gave the singer the potent anesthetic propofol for sleep.
Under aggressive cross-examination, Dr. Paul White, who was fined by the judge for failing to answer questions directly, also acknowledged that he had never heard of propofol being administered in a bedroom -- as happened in Jackson's case.
SOUNDBITE: David Walgren, Prosecutor saying (English):
"Have you ever administered propofol in someone's bedroom?"
SOUNDBITE Dr. Paul White, Expert witness for the defense, saying (English):
"No I have not."
SOUNDBITE David Walgren, Prosecutor saying (English):
"Have you ever heard of someone doing this prior to this case?"
SOUNDBITE Dr. Paul White, Expert witness for the defense, saying (English):
"No."
White is expected to be the last defense witness in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. The propofol expert theorized last week that the 50-year-old singer likely injected himself with a fatal dose of the drug without Murray's knowledge, causing his own death on June 25, 2009.
White also admitted that Murray deviated from commonly accepted medical standards on the day Jackson died and over the roughly two months earlier, when Murray was giving the singer daily doses of propofol for sleep.
Murray, who has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter, or gross negligence, faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison if convicted.
John Russell, Reuters.