Here you have the transcript from a conversation between a friend of mine, a lawyer from LA, has had yesterday with a woman who works on LAPD, on similar cases::clapping:
This evening I attended an event where, as we introduced ourselves, I found myself sitting next to a police detective who works for the Homicide Division of the Los Angeles Police Department located downtown. She said that the group that's working on the Murray case is located two offices down from her. (She herself works on cold cases.) Our conversation went something like this...
CC: Are you privy to the scuttlebutt going on in that division, like about the Conrad Murray case?
PD: Oh, yes. It's quite the topic of conversation around the water cooler and lunch room.
CC: Do you think that Murray is being charged with the appropriate crime? Are they going for the maximum charge?
PD: Definitely. There is no other charge that has as reasonable a likelihood of sticking.
CC: So second degree murder wouldn't stick?
PD: No. The burden of proof for malice aforethought is exacting, and it's highly unlikely, with the evidence they have, that it could be proven, even if the DA thinks there was any [malice], which he doesn't.
CC: Some fans think that maybe the DA doesn't have enough personal regard for Michael Jackson to pursue his killer more aggressively.
PD: Actually, it's quite the opposite. If the administration of propofol had happened to you or me, under the circumstances described, the matter would be brought before the appropriate medical board and that would be the end of it for Murray. It's because this happened to Michael Jackson that it's being pursued criminally at all. The DA wants to win this case, so he's not going to risk Murray going scot-free by pressing for a higher crime and then not winning.
CC: Well, the fans don't see it that way. They want him tried for murder.
PD: That's understandable, but what people think and what can be proven are two different things.
CC: And the family...
PD: Well, the family, of course, has an emotional investment in the outcome, so it's doubly hard for them to understand the legal technicalities involved. But, believe me, if the case didn't involve Michael Jackson, the matter wouldn't see the light of day criminally. It would all be handled civilly, with the family suing the doctor for wrongful death and that's it.
So there you have it, folks, from an insider.
CC: The fans want to know why the DA didn't charge Conrad Murray with second degree murder and then plea bargain to involuntary manslaughter to be sure to get Murray on something.
PD: We can't charge something that can't be proven [remember, malice aforethought is required for second degree murder] just for the heck of it so that we can plea down to involuntary. That's why the DA took so long [seven months] to charge Murray. There was a lot of work to be done to frame the case on a charge that's actually winable.
CC: The Jackson Family's lawyer, Brian Oxman, is trying to get Michael's fans to write letters to District Attorney Steve Cooley to pressure him to enhance the charges. Can a DA be influenced in this way?
PD: Absolutely, positively not. We go on the essence of the case, not on what outside parties think, even if there are thousands of outside parties. This lawyer has zero chance of influencing the District Attorney, no matter how many letters are written.
CC: How do you know you can't win on second degree murder?
PD: Well, first of all, the defendant has counsel, and his counsel knows that murder two can't be won, so on what basis can such a plea be bargained? "Uh, we're going to charge your client with a more severe crime [that we can't prove] so your client can plead down to involuntary. " It doesn't work that way. The DA's office has lots of conversations- -we call it 'trying the case in the office'--and District Attorney Cooley is confident of what he can win before he brings charges. Involuntary manslaughter is what the DA is reasonably certain he can win.
CC: What do you think of Oxman's efforts to get the fans involved?
PD: He sounds like an imbecile.
CC: Well, he's not very smart; we know that.
PD: A plea bargain always results in lower charges than that which the DA could get on a conviction, but we can't try all cases; there are just too many. While perfect justice would mandate a certain outcome, it's just not practical that all cases can be tried. This one's probably going to go to trial because it's high profile and the world is watching. If the case didn't involve Michael Jackson, it wouldn't be a criminal case at all. [This detective mentioned this last week.]
CC: Do you happen to know if Steve Cooley is a fan of Michael Jackson?
PD: No, I don't know know and, even if he was, that would have nothing to do with how he pursued the case against Murray.
***
So there you go. She never heard of Oxman (apparently doesn't watch tabloid television), but information that Oxman is trying to get the fans involved [see Oxman's alleged Facebook account] means he's an idiot.