Dr. Conrad Murray was only the latest quack who jumped at the chance to make a quick buck ($5 million to be exact) by serving as Michael’s in-house drug dealer in the guise of serving as his doctor…
That said, I have no doubt that Murray is guilty of involuntary manslaughter as charged. For there’s clear and convincing evidence that the care he provided Michael was not just sub-standard, but criminally negligent.
(Murray is guilty, but MJ is not without blame, September 30, 2011)
As this quote indicates, when I heard the facts presented against Conrad Murray, my immediate thought was that if there were ever a case that was a slam dunk for the prosecution, even in Los Angeles, “This is it”.
Therefore, it came as no surprise to me when the jury found him guilty as charged today after just a few hours of deliberations.
Of course the media tried shamelessly to manufacture enough intrigue to turn this rather humdrum case into another “trial of the century”. But it seems to have generated so little interest that Jay Leno would have a field day – with his famous “Jaywalking” bit – trying to get people to recognize a picture of Murray.
Now the media are trying to manufacture intrigue around his sentencing, which is scheduled for November 29. But the serial sentencing of Lindsay Lohan has rendered even this aspect of the case anticlimactic. For if she can get away with serving only three hours of a 30-day sentence because of overcrowding in the California prison system, then it’s very likely that Murray will have to serve no more than four months of the four years he’s facing.
In fact, the only intriguing aspect of the trial for me concerned the amount of cash La Toya Jackson was raking in for each banal tweet she published. After all, she probably made far more tweeting from the courthouse during this trial than she made performing on stage throughout her entire career.
[M]y heart goes out to the Jackson family. But mindful as I am about the estrangement that existed between Michael and almost all of them, I cannot help wondering about the ulterior motives behind their publicity-grasping show of support. His sister La Toya is tweeting from the courtroom everyday as if she’s an analyst providing color commentary on a sporting event for Christ’s sake.
(Murray is guilty, but MJ is not without blame, September 30, 2011)
So good riddance to Murray … and the Jacksons alike.
Related commentaries:
Murray’s guilty…
This is it…