Michael Jackson Doctor Ordered Hundreds Of Bottles Of Propofol

Also during the preliminary hearing Monday, judge rules that evidence from Dr. Conrad Murray's phone can be used.
By Gil Kaufman


Dr. Conrad Murray (file)
Photo: Frederick M. Brown/ Getty Images

One thing became clear during testimony in the preliminary hearing of Dr. Conrad Murray on Monday (January 10) in Los Angeles: The cardiologist ordered a lot of the powerful anesthetic propofol in the months before his client Michael Jackson's death.

Los Angeles County Coroner's officials determined that the pop star died of a lethal dose of the surgical anesthetic in June 2009. Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, has admitted that he administered propofol to the singer in the hours before Jackson's passing.

And while Murray's lawyers have said that their client did not do anything that "should have" caused Jackson's death and may be preparing a defense in which they will claim that it was Jackson himself that administered the fatal dose, during continuing testimony in the second week of Murray's pretrial hearing on involuntary manslaughter charges, it became clear that there was plenty of propofol around.

According to TMZ, pharmacist Tim Lopez of Las Vegas Applied Pharmacy Services — Murray has offices and a home in Las Vegas — testified that Murray ordered more than 250 vials of propofol in the two months before Jackson's death. The drug is intended for use in a clinical setting during surgery where equipment is on hand to monitor blood pressure and oxygen levels.

Investigators executed search warrants on Murray's Las Vegas home and office, as well as Applied Pharmacy, in summer 2009 in search of evidence connected to an investigation into Jackson's death. The coroner's investigation reported that 12 vials of propofol were found in the bedroom and closet of Jackson's rented mansion after his death, and last week, one of the singer's bodyguards testified that in the moments before a 911 call was placed, Murray asked him to help put medical evidence in a bag, including vials that appeared to contain a milky substance that resembled propofol.

Jackson, a chronic insomniac, allegedly used propofol as a sleep aid, and according to Lopez's testimony, from the time Murray came onboard as Jackson's physician in April until the singer's death, the doctor ordered 130 vials of propofol in 100-millileter doses and another 125 in 20-millileter vials, as well as more than 40 vials of the sedative Versed and the anti-anxiety drug Ativan, which, like the propofol, was sent to Murray's girlfriend's home in Santa Monica, California, where he was staying while caring for Jackson. According to The Associated Press, Murray told Lopez the Santa Monica address was for one of the doctor's clinics.

Also on Monday, the judge in the case, Michael Pastor, ruled that recently obtained data from Murray's iPhone can be admitted as evidence in the case. The evidence reportedly includes a handful of voicemails and 12 screenshots.

The AP reported that a retired federal investigator testified on Monday that he retrieved e-mail from Murray's cell phone that included an exchange between the doctor and a London insurance broker who was handling the policy for Jackson's planned series of "This Is It" comeback shows. On the morning of Jackson's death, the broker asked Murray to respond to reports that the 50-year-old singer was in poor health. "As far as the statements of his health published by the press, let me say they're all malicious to the best of my knowledge," Murray replied.

So far, prosecutors have used phone records and testimony from police and Murray's current and former girlfriends to create a timeline that shows that the doctor was on the phone throughout the morning of Jackson's death, including the time after he administered the last of several doses that morning of propofol to the pop star. Previous testimony has focused on Murray's botched attempts to deliver CPR to Jackson, the delay in calling 911 and the belief by paramedics that the "Thriller" singer was already dead when they transported him to a local hospital.

The preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to bring Murray to trial is expected to last around two weeks. Murray has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter, which could land him in prison for up to four years.

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Lady Gaga: ?Born This Way? Tops Billboard and Sets Records!

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Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray's Trial To Be Televised

Judge rules that camera will be allowed in the courtroom for manslaughter case.
By Gil Kaufman


Conrad Murray
Photo: AFP/ Getty Images

For what promises to be one of the most bizarre and riveting legal proceedings in years, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Monday that a television camera will be allowed in the courtroom when Michael Jackson's doctor goes on trial for involuntary manslaughter.

Reuters reported that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, approved the presence of a camera in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray as long as it does not interfere with the proceedings in the closely watched case.

The judge asked for the "absolute least-intrusive placement" of a TV camera in the courtroom, but blocked cameras from documenting jury selection.

Pastor also announced that he would bump up the opening date of the trail by four days to March 24, at which point jury selection will begin. Murray, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the trial is expected to last around six weeks.

Cardiologist Murray was hired to be Jackson's personal physician in the run-up to the King of Pop's planned 50-date comeback series of shows at London's O2 arena in the summer of 2009. The doctor told police that he provided Jackson, 50, with sedatives and the surgical anesthetic propofol in order to combat the singer's chronic insomnia. He said he did so on the morning of June 25, 2009, when Jackson died of what a coroner deemed acute propofol poisoning.

TMZ reported on Tuesday (February 8) that Murray's lawyers plan to argue that Jackson was already in weak health before he died and that it's unfair to blame propofol for his passing. Unnamed sources close to the case told the gossip site that at the time of his death, Jackson's body was already failing him in part because concert promoter AEG Live had "driven [him] over the edge" with a rigorous rehearsal schedule for the shows.

Murray's lawyers reportedly plan to call witnesses to say that Jackson was not showing up for rehearsals and when he did he showed "clear signs" of frail health. They also reportedly plan to argue that it was Jackson who administered the final, fatal dose of propofol to himself while Murray was out of the room.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1657464/conrad-murray-trial.jhtml

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Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' Rockets Up Billboard Charts

Instant-smash single is poised to debut at #1 on Hot 100.
By Gil Kaufman


Lady Gaga
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Who didn't see this one coming? Thanks to the pushed-up release date on Friday and the most talked-about entrance at Sunday night's Grammys — not to mention what must have amounted to endless spins at clubs over the weekend — Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" is making some chart history.

Billboard reported that after just three days of availability, the tune shot to a record-setting debut on the Pop Songs radio airplay chart at #14 and is poised to possibly debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week thanks to brisk digital sales.

The first single from the album of the same name due on May 23 got 4,602 plays, which gives it the highest detections total by a debuting song in the chart's 18-year history, representing an audience of 39.3 million. Citing unnamed sources, the magazine also reported that "Born" sold more than 450,000 downloads since its release on Friday morning, which could help the song debut at #1 on the Hot 100 and make it only the 19th song ever to do so on that chart.

Gaga could also potentially wrest a record for the biggest debut track for a woman from Britney Spears if download sales continue to climb. Spears' "Hold it Against Me" rocked the chart a month ago with 411,000 in sales, but if Gaga's numbers hold she could land the fourth-largest digital track debut of all time behind Flo Rida's "Right Round," (636,000) the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" (465,000) and Flo Rida's "Low" (460,000).

The star stopped by "Jay Leno" the day after the Grammys, and in addition to explaining that she and Madonna have no beef over complaints by some that "Born This Way" bears too much of a resemblance to some earlier Material Girl hits, Gaga also announced her upcoming May HBO special and explained the inspiration behind her new album.

She also revealed that she changed up the entire look of her Grammy performance two days before it aired because she wasn't happy with it. "I don't want the band and dancers to feel like a band and dancers," Gaga said, explaining why her crew was dressed in flesh-tone vinyl outfits that matched her own.

When Leno made a crack about her trio of Grammy outfits, which included a molded leather bodice created by fashion icon Thierry Mugler, Gaga said the latter had a cosmic inspiration. "It was inspired by humanoids, alien sex humanoid hybrid women," she said matter of factly, rocking some of the low budget sci-fi alien face-ridged makeup she debuted at the Grammys, on Leno's show.

The talk show host pointed to her third getup, which she said featured a giant black "church" hat, and asked if maybe it didn't block the view of the star behind her at the show, actor Will Smith. Gaga promised it didn't and added that she is in love with his daughter's hit single. "I love Willow," gushed Gaga, who took a series of photos with the pre-teen Smith family singer on her lap at the show. "I told her that she inspired me to whip my hair back and forth!"

Though she claimed to have written "Born This Way" in a matter of minutes, Gaga said she spent more than a year perfecting it and tweaking the music, promising that it is just one of the many sounds you'll hear on the album. "The record is kind of eclectic in a way," she said. "The rest of the songs on the album are quite different from 'Born This Way.' "

As for the album's theme, Gaga said it's about "being able to know that when you were born, you weren't just born in that moment, you have your entire life to realize the person that you're potentially going to become and whoever you choose to be was part of your destiny." Her hope, she said, was to encourage people who are feeling bullied or disenfranchised at the moment to realize that it's "never too late to harness your inner superstar."

For more Grammy Awards analysis, interviews, fashion and more, stick with MTV News!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1658032/born-this-way-number-one.jhtml

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Daniel Radcliffe To Star In Indie Comedy 'The Amateur Photographer'

Christopher Monger, the Emmy-nominated co-writer of HBO's 'Temple Grandin,' will direct.
By Eric Ditzian


Daniel Radcliffe
Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/ Getty Images

At the same time that Daniel Radcliffe readies to return to Broadway — previews of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" begin on February 26 — the 21-year-old actor is continuing to plot his post-"Harry Potter" career on the big screen.

Radcliffe is now attached to star in "The Amateur Photographer," an indie comedy from writer/director Christopher Monger, according to Variety. Monger shared writing credits on HBO's "Temple Grandin," the biopic that earned him an Emmy nomination and Claire Danes a Golden Globe win.

Set in a New England mill town during the 1970s, the movie will follow Radcliffe as a young man who finds in himself an unlikely artistic streak when he begins photographing the "most intimate moments" of the townspeople's lives, as Variety puts it, and ends up battling "local authorities while bringing a bit of a velvet revolution to the community."

Radcliffe has already wrapped production on his first film following the completion of the "Harry Potter" series. "The Woman in Black" is a thriller in which Radcliffe plays a lawyer who travels to a strange town filled with supernatural secrets. The Brit has also lined up another big-screen project in "All Quiet on the Western Front." He's set to play a German soldier during World War I when the production kicks off in the spring of 2012. And come July, he'll be busy with promotional duties for the final part of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

For now, though, Radcliffe is settling in on Broadway. After a month of previews, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" will officially open on March 27.

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Lady Gaga's Next Single Will 'Shock,' RedOne Says

'You're gonna be surprised and wanna go crazy,' producer tells MTV News at Grammys.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by James Montgomery


Lady Gaga at the Grammys on Sunday
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Lady Gaga debuted her new single, the much anticipated "Born This Way," on Friday. It's an over-the-top old-school disco track about self-confidence and the power of loving yourself for who you are. Gaga performed the track at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, shortly after emerging from an egg.

Shortly before she took the stage, MTV News caught up with Lady Gaga's frequent producer, RedOne, who promised that if "Born This Way" blew your socks off, then you really need to wait for the next single off her May album release.

"Next one! I'm not gonna tell you the title, but the next single, it's ... I don't want to say. It's gonna shock," he teased on the red carpet. "You're gonna be surprised and wanna go crazy." (Vogue had reported that the next single would be called "Judas," but Perez Hilton later debunked the rumor.)

While that's where the Gaga talk began and ended, the super-producer was more forthcoming with details about working with rock icons U2 on their next album. "I'm working with U2 and Bono and them. I'm a guitar player. I'm a musician," he explained. "A lot of people think RedOne is a synth guy, but I'm a guitar player, I'm a singer and all of that."

RedOne said that while the band's next album will sound distinctly U2, he revealed that he and the guys are also putting a new-millennium spin on the age-old formula. "I love producing. I love doing different styles, and with U2, it was like going back to when I was in a band, a rock band. The process is very special," he said. "It's a very unique process. It's futuristic, but it's still U2. U2 is U2."

For more Grammy Awards analysis, interviews, fashion and more, stick with MTV News!

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