LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury has convicted Michael Jackson’s doctor of involuntary manslaughter in the singer’s 2009 drug death.
The jury reached its verdict Monday after deliberating less than nine hours. Prosecutors depicted Dr. Conrad Murray as a reckless physician who abandoned Jackson while he was under the effects of the powerful anesthetic propofol.
Attorneys for the Houston-based cardiologist countered that Jackson was addicted to the drug and self-administered the fatal dose when Murray left his bedroom.
Murray agreed to become Jackson’s personal physician as the singer prepared for a series of comeback concerts in 2009.
Murray did not testify during the trial but previously acknowledged to police that he gave Jackson propofol and other sedatives on the morning the singer died.