The Conrad Murray saga may finally be over, as a Los Angeles appeals court has rejected the former doctor’s bid to have his conviction for the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson overturned.
The court said at the 2011 trial the prosecution laid out substantial evidence of guilt. Murray got out of jail last October after serving two years of his four-year sentence for administering a lethal dose of an anesthetic drug to Jackson in 2009.
The court said in its 68-page ruling that Jackson “was a vulnerable victim and that [Murray] was in a position of trust, and violated the trust relationship by breaching standards of professional conduct in numerous respects.”
Murray “administered a number of dangerous drugs to Mr. Jackson without the appropriate medical equipment, precautions or personnel in place,” the court concluded.
The court also said that Murray’s four-year sentence was correct because the doctor showed “callous disregard” for the singer’s health and safety and that Murray had been wrong to leave Jackson unattended.
Murray based the appeal on the argument that the trial judge had excluded jurors from hearing evidence and had quashed attempts by Murray’s lawyers to introduce arguments about other doctors who had treated Jackson.
Murray intends to attempt to bring his appeal to a higher court.
In another matter related to the late superstar, Lloyd’s of London, the insurers of Jackson’s This Is It tour, have reached an agreement with Jackson’s estate over an insurance policy worth $17.5 million. The insurer had asked for the policy to be declared null and void because they were not told of Jackson taking powerful medication. The dispute was scheduled to go to trial next month.
Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
