Michael Jackson Trial Day 3
Five Big Moments From Day Three of the Michael Jackson Trial
Another day in court came to an end, which meant more tweets from LaToya Jackson and some interesting revelations from the prosecution.
More witnesses returned Thursday as prosecutors continued to make their case against Dr. Conrad Murray, who’s charged with involuntary manslaughter in the June 25, 2009, death of Michael Jackson.
First on the stand was Alberto Alvarez, Jackson’s “director of logistics” and security guard, who met Murray in January 2009, and said he saw the doctor at the King of Pop’s house “five-to-six times a week.” Later, the judge swore in Kai Chase, a chef that started working for M.J. and his family at Carolwood in March 2009.
Although a lot went down today, but here are the highlights of the day’s proceedings…
1. Cell Phone Smackdown: You would think people would be on their best behaviour in court, but someone forgot to put their ringer on silent, causing Judge Michael Pastor to halt proceedings. At least the judge got to deliver a good scolding in front of everyone. “It’s disruptive, it’s in violation of court rules. That person can be escorted out,” he said. And off the offender went.
2. Sound Off: Murray was accosted by a heavily tattooed woman during the midmorning break, who was chanting “murderer” and “judgment day is coming.” The doctor actually stopped and stared at the woman while she was yelling at him. Security escorted the woman off the ninth floor, but was hostile to deputies, taking her time as they moved her away.
3. Doctor’s Orders: When arriving on the scene of Jackson’s death, Alvarez believed the singer was dead from the beginning after seeing Jackson’s body in a weird position and his mouth and eyes open. Alvarez also saw a plastic bag device on Jackson’s penis, a catheter, which he felt was unusual. He did not see any heart-monitoring equipment or any other medical equipment attached to Jackson’s body besides the catheter and oxygen tubing attached to his nose.
Alvarez testified that Murray then reached over to Jackson’s nightstand and grabbed medical vials and instructed Alvarez to “put these in a bag.” Alvarez proceeded to grab a plastic bag behind him and then Murray placed the vials in the bag. Dr. Murray instructed Alvarez to “place that bag in a brown bag” which was located on the floor. Murray then instructed Alvarez to grab a bag hanging by the IV stand and to “grab that bag and put it in this blue bag.”
When asked by prosecutors why he followed Murray’s instructions, Alvarez said, “I didn’t question his authority, and it was an emergency, and I needed to follow his instructions. I thought we were packing to go to the hospital.” Once Alvarez removed a saline bag from the IV stand, Alvarez was asked to only remove one of the two bags and leave the other hanging on the stand. Alvarez said, “At the bottom of the bag, there appeared to be a milky white substance.”
4. 911 Call: Alvarez was the original person to call 911. Prosecutors played his phone call, and you can hear Alvarez stating, “He’s not breathing, we are trying to pump him, but he’s not breathing.” The security guard repeated to emergency officials that Jackson was not responding to CPR given by Murray at the house.
5. Money Talks: Alvarez said he has been approached “20-30 times” for media interviews, including “9 to 10 times” offering money up to $500,000, and confirmed he had been offered $200,000 from the National Enquirer. Jackson’s death has “caused a lot of financial problems” for Alvarez. “I really don’t have steady work. I went from a great salary to nothing.” Alvarez has recently worked a few one-night jobs with various celebrities but says he is “financially wiped out.”