The below is some random articles that I came across when googling. Only included some parts and highlighed some interesting points
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David Walgren, the deputy Los Angeles County district attorney charged with handling the Michael Jackson case has opted to proceed with a criminal complaint of involuntary manslaughter rather than attempt to obtain a grand jury indictment.
This means that the public would have a chance to look at the evidence which is placed before a judge who would then decide whether Dr Conrad Murray should stand trial. If he had gone by way of grand jury it would have been held behind closed doors. In the present case
the need for transparency, to reassure the singer's millions of fans that justice is seen to be done, is vital.
Mark Geragos, a private criminal defense attorney who represented Jackson when he was facing charges of child molestation,
said the decision suggests prosecutors are unsure they could persuade a grand jury that Murray was criminally liable for Jackson's death.
"
This may be one of those rare cases where a grand jury of citizens is not ready to attach criminal liability to the doctor," Geragos said. "
They may feel they are better off in front of a judge."
In truth and probably closer to the reality of this case
Harland Braun, a celebrity defense attorney,
disagrees saying that the
move shows that prosecutors are confident that their evidence and witnesses could withstand cross-examination and public scrutiny. This would not be the case before a grand jury.
"It's really a test run on a case," Braun said. "Both sides get to know what the strengths and weaknesses of the case are."
Involuntary manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought. It is distinguished from voluntary manslaughter by the absence of intention.
Most unintentional killings are not murder but involuntary manslaughter.
There are two types of involuntary manslaughter statutes:
criminally negligent manslaughter and unlawful act manslaughter.
Criminally negligent manslaughter occurs when death results from a high degree of negligence or recklessness. Modern criminal codes generally require a consciousness of risk and under some codes the absence of this element makes the offense a less serious homicide.
An omission to act or a failure to perform a duty constitutes criminally negligent manslaughter. The existence of the duty is essential.
In the Michael Jackson case
to sustain a charge of involuntary manslaughter prosecutors will have to show that there was a reckless action by Dr Murray that created a risk of death or serious bodily injury. In addition if he was aware of the risk, whether the singer knew about that risk and decided to take it.
...
As a result
they ruled the death a homicide because Propofol is only supposed to be administered by an anesthesia professional in a medical setting. The patient requires constant monitoring because the drug depresses breathing and heart rate while also lowering blood pressure, a potentially deadly combination.
Murray claims that the drugs that he gave the singer should not have killed Jackson and that he was entitled to administer Propofol. One of the key issues relating to the charges is however
whether he followed the required procedures while Jackson was under the influence of the drugs.
In this regard much of the evidence gathered by the LAPD involved talking to numerous medical experts to determine whether
Murray's behavior, which included talking on his cell phone and leaving Jackson's bedside, fell outside the bounds of reasonable medical practice.
http://www.therichmarksentinel.com/rs_headlines.asp?recid=3826
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The coroner’s finding of homicide, or death at the hands of another, does not automatically mean a crime was committed. To bring a manslaughter charge, prosecutors must show there was a reckless action that created a risk of death or great bodily injury.
If a doctor is aware of the risk, there might also be an issue of whether the patient knows that risk and decided to take it.
Dr. Jayson Hymes, an anesthesiologist and specialist in pain medication and addiction, said authorities are confronted with a central question: “
It’s not illegal to be a bad doctor but when does it go from bad medicine to so unbelievably stupid it’s criminal negligence?”
He said investigators may be questioning Murray’s claim that he was trying to “wean” Jackson off the powerful anesthetic by giving him decreasing doses.
“It makes no sense,” said Hymes. “
You don’t wean people off propofol. People don’t go around craving propofol. What he needed to be weaned off of were all the other drugs.”
As for Jackson’s demand for propofol, he said, “
He didn’t understand that anesthesia is not sleep. If he wanted restorative sleep, he was going in the wrong direction.”
Loyola University Law School professor Laurie Levenson said history hangs over prosecutors as they build the case. The district attorney’s office is shadowed by memories of the O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake murder acquittals and the Phil Spector case that took two trials to win a second-degree murder conviction.
Prosecutors will want to make sure they have a very strong case before proceeding.
“There’s no question that a bad thing happened,” she said of Jackson’s death. “
But you need to prove to 12 jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that it is manslaughter. That’s a very high threshold.”
Vesna Maras, a former Los Angeles deputy district attorney who spent 12 years trying medical and pharmacological cases for the office,
noted it is not illegal to simply administer propofol.
“
If he didn’t research the drug that would be conscious disregard of the risk to human life, which is second-degree murder,” she said. “
If he did research it, was aware of the risks and didn’t exercise due caution and circumspection before administering it, that is involuntary manslaughter.”
http://blog.taragana.com/law/2009/09/21/authorities-not-in-a-hurry-to-file-charges-in-michael-jackson-death-12855/
