Dr Conrad Murray arrived in court yesterday to face allegations that he had a part to play in the death of Michael Jackson. In case you've missed all the column inches and radio air play that this case has received over the last few days, Dr Murray was to be charged with the involuntary manslaughter of the King of Pop and now it's time to see if he will be found guilty or not guilty. When the judged asked how he pleaded, Dr Murray answered "Not Guilty".
But not only did he have to deal with this preliminary hearing, the medical council threw in a court order to revoke his licence as a practising doctor. The government also wanted a piece of the action and asked if the bail could be raised to $300,000 (€219,000). Normally for a case like this it's only $25,000 (€18,000)... Ouch. That's one hell of a bad day. The prosecution seem to think that there's a chance that he'll leg it somewhere. After an explanation that seemed to last about 5 minutes, the bail was set at $75,000 (€54,844) and his medical practises were restricted by the down to earth judge.
And what did the Jackson family have to say about this? Well, La Toya seems to think that Dr Murray is guilty but that he didn't act alone. "Michael was murdered and although he died at the hands of Dr Conrad Murray, I believe Dr Murray was a part of a much larger plan. There are other individuals involved and I will not rest and I will continue to fight until all of the proper individuals are brought forth and justice is served." The next hearing is 5th April (mark it in the diary!)
Alicia Coyle
