Plea deal never considered in Michael Jackson's death, lawyer saysDr. Conrad Murray never considered a plea deal to resolve the involuntary manslaughter charge against him in the death of Michael Jackson, his lawyer said.
"Plea bargains are for guilty people," Murray defense lawyer Ed Chernoff said in an interview this week with Jean Casarez, a reporter with CNN sister network In Session. "If you're not guilty then we need to go to trial."
Chernoff would not reveal if he plans to have Murray testify in his defense.
"Even if that had been decided, we wouldn't be talking about evidence at trial," Chernoff said.
The search for 18 Los Angeles County citizens qualified to sit in judgment of Murray reached the end of its first phase after a second day of jury selection Friday. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor decided the pool of potential jurors found to be able to withstand the hardship of a month-long trial is deep enough for the final phase.
They were given a questionnaire, about 30 pages long, to determine if they can put aside biases and what they've heard about the pop star's death to reach a fair verdict. Lawyers will question them about their answers when they return to court September 23.
During Friday's orientation for potential jurors, Pastor conducted a moment of silence to honor the victims of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
"If we get a jury that's willing to just go by what is being presented in court, then we have a very good shot at getting the right result in this case," Chernoff said in his In Session interview.
Murray's defense team failed to convince Pastor and an appeals court to shelter jurors from trial media coverage by keeping them sequestered in a hotel for the duration of the trial, expected to last about a month.
Chernoff and his team will have two weeks to study answers to the jury questionnaire to determine which potential jurors have already made up their minds about Murray's guilt. They did this once before, but the trial was delayed over the summer.
"One of the things that we learned in the case the last go-around in the jury selection, it's absolutely shocking how many jurors think already they know everything about this case," Chernoff said.
The Los Angeles coroner has ruled that Michael Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, was caused by an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol, combined with other drugs.
Prosecutors have accused Murray, who served as Jackson's personal and full-time physician at the time, of having a role in the overdose.
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-09-09/justice/california.conrad.murray.trial_1_surgical-anesthetic-propofol-ed-chernoff-potential-jurors?_s=PM:CRIME