LOS ANGELES: Michael Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray declined the right to testify in his own defense Tuesday, as lawyers rested their cases and paved the way for closing arguments in the six-week trial.
Judge Michael Pastor adjourned the trial until Thursday, when prosecution and defense attorneys will summarize their cases after nearly six weeks of testimony which has heavily implicated Murray over Jackson's 2009 death.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you've seen and heard all of the evidence in this case,” Pastor told the seven-man, five-woman jury at the Los Angeles Superior Court, where the trial started on September 27.
The announcement came shortly after Murray, charged with involuntary manslaughter over Jackson's death from an overdose of powerful sedatives, announced his much-anticipated decision on whether to take the stand himself.
“My decision is that I will not testify in this matter,” said Murray, who only a day earlier had surprised observers by saying he had not yet decided, fueling intense speculation that he could do so.
Most observers have assumed that Murray, whose account of Jackson's death was given in a two-hour interview with police, would not testify as it could only harm his case.
That point of view was bolstered Monday when prosecutor David Walgren staged a forensic cross-examination picking apart the testimony of the defense's star witness, Doctor Paul White, which he could have repeated on Murray.
But others argued that given how many holes prosecutors have picked in his defense case, Murray -- who has sat in grim silence for the last five weeks -- could have decided to appeal directly to the jury.
Murray faces up to four years in jail if convicted over Jackson's death from “acute propofol intoxication” in Los Angeles, where the singer was rehearsing for a series of planned comeback shows.
The prosecution claims that Murray, who was being paid $150,000 (105,000 euros) a month, killed Jackson by administering a deadly cocktail of drugs to help him sleep, and then abandoning him at the crucial moment.
The defense has sought to present Jackson as a desperate drug addict, who would have ended up killing himself with an accidental overdose with or without Murray's help.
Murray's decision not to testify was announced shortly after White stood down after being hammered by prosecutor Walgren for a second day, following his grilling Monday.
The defense then announced they were resting their case, while the prosecution called its own star witness, Dr. Steven Shafer, back to the stand briefly to rebut White's expert testimony.
On Monday, White conceded that Murray should have called 911 more quickly when he found the star not breathing, but maintained his theory that Jackson injected a fatal dose of propofol while the medic was out of the room.
On Tuesday prosecutor Walgren asked Shafer: “Does it absolutely rule out the hypothesis put forth by Dr. White?””Absolutely,” replied Shafer.
After the jury was dismissed, the judge spent much of the rest of the day with lawyers going through exactly which evidence is allowed to be considered by jurors.
They also discussed instructions to be given to jurors about the requirements for a guilty verdict.
They “must agree unanimously on a specific act committed in a gross negligent manner or a specific failure of a legal duty allegedly committed in a grossly negligent manner” in order to find him guilty, Pastor said.
In addition they must “consider all the circumstances established by the evidence,” and return a guilty verdict “only if there is a substantial factor causing the death” of Jackson, he added.
The TMZ celebrity news website had reported that Murray's defense lawyers, Ed Chernoff and Michael Flanagan, were split over whether he should take the stand.
Chernoff, who has battled to defend his client against a powerful prosecution case, believed Murray should not stand, while his assistant counsel Flanagan thought the doctor should, the website said.
Murray, when asked by Pastor Tuesday whether he had made his decision “freely and voluntarily,” replied simply: “Yes.”
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