LOS ANGELES — If Michael Jackson's doctor had acted more like a medical professional and less like a domestic, the singer would be alive today, a prosecution expert testified Wednesday at the physician's trial.
The witness, an anesthesiologist who specializes in the drug that killed Jackson, told jurors that an improper "employer-employee" relationship between the singer and Dr. Conrad Murray, who was paid $150,000 a month, directly led to the singer's fatal overdose.
"Dr. Murray should have said, ‘Michael Jackson, I am not giving you propofol. I am not giving you anything. You have a sleep disorder and you need to be evaluated," said Dr. Steven Shafer, a Columbia University professor.
Instead, Shafer said, Murray let the singer order him around as he would a house cleaner.
"What I saw was a patient who stated what he wanted. ‘I want this. I want this. I want this.' And I saw Conrad Murray said, ‘Yes. Tell me what you want and I'll do it. That is what an employee is,'" Shafer said.
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Jackson's role in his own death is the central point of contention in the trial, with the defense arguing that the singer alone was responsible. Prosecutors have touched on the issue in their questioning of previous witnesses, but they waited until the testimony of Shafer, their star expert and final witness, to address the issue head-on.
