Conrad Murray resurfaces in exclusive photo as Michael Jackson’s former doctor works hard to keep his criminal appeal alive
The petition was the first step for Murray to show he’s not giving up after an appellate court unanimously rejected his criminal appeal in a 68-page ruling last month.
Michael Jackson’s doctor is taking a hands-on approach to his ongoing criminal appeal and was heartened by a court ruling last Friday, his lawyer told the Daily News.
Dr. Conrad Murray spent multiple nights last week working side-by-side with lawyer Valerie Wass on a petition for re-hearing filed Thursday, Wass said.
The petition was the first step for Murray to show he’s not giving up after an appellate court unanimously rejected his criminal appeal in a 68-page ruling last month.
The court could have summarily denied the rehearing petition outright but instead responded within 24 hours asking the Attorney General’s office to file its response argument by Monday, Wass said.
“Dr. Murray is nowhere near done fighting this conviction. He worked closely with me on this, meticulously going through the opinion page by page,” Wass told The News Tuesday. “He’s determined to continue this appeal as long as he needs to.”
And if the petition ultimately fails, the cardiologist convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 plans to file a follow-up petition for review in the California Supreme Court later this month, she said.
Murray, 60, was the last person to see the King of Pop alive before his overdose death on June 25, 2009.
A coroner report found the “Thriller” singer died from an overdose of the surgery-strength anesthetic propofol.
Prosecutors claimed Murray gave Jackson the drug in an IV drip without proper monitoring.
A jury found him guilty of negligence, and he walked out of jail last October after serving two years of a four-year jail sentence thanks to an early release program for non-violent offenders.
“He has never wavered from what happened that night, and the evidence and phone records fit in perfectly with his account,” Wass said Tuesday.
Murray has maintained that he gave the singer a 25-milligram injection of propofol in the hours before his death and waited at his bedside until the fast-acting effects wore off.
He has claimed Jackson must have woken up while he was out of the room and self-administered the fatal dose with a syringe.
“The court's analysis of many of the issues was flawed, and the court had misstated certain critical facts,” Wass said Tuesday. “They really misunderstood the infusion theory.”
Murray still hopes to practice medicine again and filed a civil lawsuit to regain his medical license in Texas.
He also has a mandatory settlement conference related to his California medical license scheduled for June 9.
If no settlement is reached, a hearing on the proposed revocation of his California license is set to begin July 1.
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