Est. 1998
Murray’s Sentence Debate
Prosecutors on Wednesday, asked a judge to sentence Conrad Murray to the maximum four years in prison, for his involuntary manslaughter conviction in Michael’s 2009 death, while his defense attorneys sought to convince the judge to sentence their client to probation.
The opposing sentencing memos were filed in advance of Murray’s upcoming sentencing hearing on Tuesday November 29th. He has been in jail since he was convicted on November 7th of causing Michael’s death.
Prosecutors David Walgren and Deborah Brazil wrote that Murray has shown no remorse for Michael’s death, and has continued to place the blame on others, including Michael himself. They cited a series of media interviews with Murray that they submitted to Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, on a DVD.
In one excerpt, Murray can be seen stating, “I don’t feel guilty because I did not do anything wrong.”
“Finally, the defendant consistently blames the victim for his own death,” the prosecution brief reads, “even going so far as to characterize himself as being ‘entrapped’ by the victim and as someone who suffered a ‘betrayal’ at the hands of the victim.”
In their memo, prosecutors wrote, “Instead of utilizing his medical knowledge and training to provide Mr. Jackson with proper medical care, the defendant acted as an employee and as a drug dealer and completely corrupted the trust necessary in a proper doctor-patient relationship.”
Defense attorney Nareg Gourjian, who cited letters of praise from Murray’s former patients, described Murray as grief-stricken and said he would never stop punishing himself over Michael’s loss.
“In effect, he will be serving a form of life sentence. However, the offense was not willful, nor intended.” Gourjian wrote. The defense said Murray is in a prison of self-punishment and should receive probation.
“It will be very difficult to achieve an appropriate sentence of incarceration for Dr. Conrad Murray,” Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, whose office prosecuted the case, told reporters earlier this month.
In addition to asking for the maximum four-year sentence, prosecutors attached to their motion a statement of monetary losses because of Michael’s death exceeding one hundred million dollars, suggesting that Murray should be ordered to make “appropriate restitution” to Michael’s children.
Source: Associated Press & MJWN
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