'GMA' Exclusive: Conrad Murray's Lawyer Speaks Out
April 6, 2010 — -- The attorney for Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, today aggressively contested media reports -- based on a leaked witness report -- that Murray attempted to hide evidence and delayed calling 911 as Jackson lay dying and said investigators rushed to implicate Murray in the star's death.
"It's just a bald-faced lie," Ed Chernoff said in an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America" that aired today. "[The] doctor called 911 as soon as he could… Let me just say, unequivocally, he did not – he was not cleaning up any bottles… The scene was not consistent with anyone trying to clean something up."
Chernoff said Murray did not immediately call 911 because there was no house phone in the room where Jackson was and he could not leave his patient to make the call.
Murray stands accused of administering the lethal dose of a powerful sedative that killed the pop superstar. He pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in February.
Chernoff said his client isn't responsible for the star's death, and that police rushed to blame someone.
"Let's say that this extremely famous, worldwide personality like Michael Jackson was found dead under unusual circumstances such as this. And the police came out and said, 'We've investigated and we just, we can't really put the blame on anybody at this point.' What do you think would happen then?" Chernoff said. "I think there was a tremendous amount of pressure to find somebody to blame. I think that was Dr. Murray… I think, my personal opinion, a conclusion was made and the investigation was conducted in order to back it up."
When asked about Chernoff's claim that police bowed to public pressure and blamed Conrad the Los Angeles Police Department told ABC News its investigation is continuing.
Murray appeared in court Monday for a preliminary hearing in which a California judge could have stripped him of his license to practice medicine, but did not.
"Well I mean the doctor had a good day," Chernoff said. "I think that was stressing him out more than anything else, was his ability to keep going, taking care of patients..."
Murray told investigators he gave Jackson the drugs Propofol, Lidocaine, Ativan and Versed during the early hours of June 25, 2009, according to an unsealed affidavit.
He also told detectives that he left the room after he gave Jackson a final dose of Propofol, before he returned to the room to find that Jackson had stopped breathing, according to the affidavit. Jackson was pronounced dead later that day at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Chernoff did not offer an alternative chain of events, but said such a scenario doesn't equate to responsibility.
"If the prosecution's theory is that Dr. Murray injected a bunch of drugs into Michael Jackson, walked out of the room and he died as a result, that's absolutely false," he said. "Dr. Murray is not guilty of causing the death of Michael Jackson. Period."
