Conrad Murray’s defense has rested on the doctor’s claim that Michael Jackson had taken the final fatal dose of Propofol without his knowledge or consent. But prosecutors revealed to the jury today through witness testimony that the King of Pop’s fingerprints were not found on any of the Propofol bottles, meaning they were administered to him by someone else. The prosecution is making every effort to drive the point home to the jury that the only other person who could have given him the drug was Murray.

When paramedics arrived on the scene at the Jackson home, they questioned Murray as to what medications Jackson had been on. The doctor explained that he was treating Jackson for dehydration and exhaustion and had only given him Lorazepam. But he did not tell paramedics or the UCLA Medical Center emergency room staff that Jackson had also taken Propofol, a powerful anasthetic, even after being asked several times if Jackson was on any other medication.

One paramedic testified that upon entering Jackson’s room, he discovered a startled-looking Murray stuffing vials into a black garbage bag.

On cross-examination, the defense tried minimizing the importance of this testimony by explaining to the jury that even if Murray had told the paramedics and UCLA staff that Jackson had been administered Propofol, doctors would still have been unable to save him.

The defense felt its first blow when Jackson’s former boydguard Alberto Alvarez took the stand on day three of the Conrad Murray trial. Alvarez testified that in the hectic moments while Murray performed one-handed CPR on Jackson, the doctor frantically told Alvarez to grab vials and put them in a bag which he was then asked to place in yet another bag. Murray then asked Alvarez to remove the saline bag from Jackson’s IV stand and place it another bag. While removing the saline bag, Alvarez noticed a milky-white substance inside, what was later discovered to be Propofol. He then immediately phoned for an ambulance.

The prosecution expects that their latest witness testimony and the lack of Jackson’s prints on the bottles will lead the jury to question Murray’s motives for giving Jackson Propofol and see his actions as questionable while his patient lay dying under his care. Another point for the jury to consider is that Murray’s use of the anasthetic on that fateful day in June was not an isolated incident. Between April and June 2009, Murray had ordered a total of four pounds of Propofol for his patient, showing that Jackson’s use of the drug under Murray’s care had been ongoing. When the cause of death was ruled to be “acute propofol intoxication”, Murray was finally forced to admit that he had given Jackson the drug but only a small dose to help him sleep – despite the fact that Propofol is not a sleeping aid.

If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Conrad Murray faces a maximum of four years in prison and the loss of his medical license.

This guest post was written by Joseph Conilli, from North Bay, Ontario who frequently writes articles for Kanetix.ca and other well-known brands. This article was written by a guest author. Would you like to, submit a guest blog post?