Tearful nurse testifies about warning to Jackson
Dr. Conrad Murray listens during cross examination of propofol expert Dr. Steven Shafer in Los Angeles Superior Court during his involuntary manslaughter trial in Los Angeles, Calif. Oct. 24, 2011. Murray has pleaded not guilty and faces four years in prison and the loss of his medical licenses if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death. (Paul Buck, Pool / AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A sometimes tearful nurse testified Tuesday that her efforts to save Michael Jackson from the drug he craved for sleep were rebuffed by the star who insisted he needed the powerful anesthetic that eventually killed him.
Cherilyn Lee, a nurse practitioner who tried to shift Jackson to holistic sleep aids in the months before he died, said the singer told her Dipravan, a brand name for propofol, was the only thing that would knock him out and induce the sleep he needed.
He told Lee he had experienced the drug once during surgery.
Lee almost didn't testify. She sat down in the witness box then said she felt dizzy before starting to cry.
"This is just very sensitive for me," she explained.
Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor had her taken to another room to rest, and she returned 20 minute later saying she felt better. She became tearful again while testifying that she had warned Jackson not to take the drug.
The day was also marked by poignant testimony from the head of AEG, the concert giant that planned Jackson's ill-fated "This Is It" shows in London.
Randy Phillips, the company president and chief executive officer who first proposed the concert to Jackson, said the star was excited and committed to restarting his career in London, where he could settle down with his children on a country estate "so they wouldn't be living as vagabonds."
"It was emotional," said Phillips. "I cried."
"Did he cry?" asked defense attorney Ed Chernoff.
"Yes," Phillips said softly.
Lee told of coming into Jackson's life at the beginning of 2009 and leaving just before Dr. Conrad Murray arrived. Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and is accused of giving Jackson a fatal dose of the drug Lee would not give him.
Lee recalled a meeting with the superstar at his rented mansion two months before his death.
"He was sitting very close to me," she said. "He looked at me and said, 'I have a lot of difficulty sleeping. I've tried a lot of things and I need something that will make me fall asleep right away. I need Dipravan."
Lee had never heard of the drug but did research and later told Jackson it was too dangerous to use in a home.
At one point she asked: "What if you didn't wake up?"
Jackson, however, was unswayed and adamant the drug would be safe if he had a doctor who could monitor him while he slept.
Prosecutors claim Murray abandoned Jackson after administering the fatal dose of propofol and failed to have proper life-saving and monitoring equipment on hand.
Lee was called to the stand by Murray's defense, but the impact of her testimony was mixed.
While she supported a defense theory that Jackson was doctor shopping in a desperate search for someone to give him propofol, a prosecutor seized on her warning to show Murray should have known the dangers too and refused the request by Jackson.
Under cross-examination by prosecutor David Walgren, Lee acknowledged a conversation with Jackson in which she told him: "No one who cared or had your best interest at heart would give you this."
She said her final refusal to provide the drug came on April 19, 2009, and she never saw Jackson again.
Another medical witness, Dr. Allan Metzger, testified Monday that Jackson also implored him to provide the anesthetic. Metzger also refused and instead gave the singer sleeping pills that had proven effective in the past.
Metzger saw Jackson just one day before Lee refused the request for drugs by the singer.
Attorneys for Murray, a Houston-based cardiologist, are trying to show that Jackson was a strong-willed celebrity who became the architect of his own demise when he insisted on getting the intravenous drug. They also alleged he gave himself the fatal dose after Murray left his bedroom.
Lee said she had treated Jackson for nutrition and energy issues as he prepared for his planned series of "This Is It" comeback concerts.
Lee was followed to the witness stand by Phillips, who said Jackson saw the series of appearances at the 02 Arena in London as a new beginning.
He said Jackson agreed to the plan with a few caveats: He wanted his own doctor to travel with him and a lavish country home for him and the children, complete with streams and horses.
However, in June, 2009, only weeks before they were to leave for London, Phillips said "This Is It" director Kenny Ortega became concerned about Jackson's absence from some rehearsals and there was a meeting of Jackson, Murray and the organizers. He said Murray spoke for Jackson at the meeting and said he was in good health and would be fine for the concert tour.
Phillips also said Jackson refused to be dissuaded from bringing his own doctor to London despite the expense, and Phillips agreed to hire Murray.
Judge Pastor blocked Murray's attorneys from asking Phillips about Jackson's contract.
Defense attorneys had wanted to introduce Jackson's contract to show he would have owed $40 million to the promoter if the concerts were canceled. The lawyers said Jackson would be desperate to make sure the shows continued and needed sleep to get through his rehearsals.
Pastor said there was no evidence Jackson was concerned about the money and allowing testimony about the contract might confuse jurors.
"This is not a contractual dispute. This is a homicide case," Pastor said.
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