Michael Jackson’s mother unsatisfied maximum sentence for Murray as it is revealed he will serve half that time for singer’s death
MICHAEL Jackson’s mother has spoken out about the maximum four-year involuntary manslaughter sentence handed down to her son’s former doctor today, insisting it is ‘not enough’, the Daily Mail reported.
Katherine Jackson, leaving the Los Angeles courtroom, thanked the prosecutors and Judge Michael Pastor for delivering justice after the six-week trial that saw Conrad Murray sentenced for her son’s death.
But she said the jail time would never bring her son back to life – as it emerged that Murray is likely to only serve half his sentence.
Speaking to KTLA, she said: ‘Four years is not enough for someone’s life. It won’t bring him back but at least he got the maximum. I thought the judge was very, very fair and I thank him.’
She continued: ‘Four years won’t bring my son back, but that’s the law. So the judge gave him the maximum, so I thank the judge and I thank the prosecutors and I think everything went well.’
Jermaine Jackson, who was by his mother’s side as the family exited, echoed her remarks to waiting reporters.
‘One hundred years is not enough,’ he said.
Nicole Alvarez, Murray’s girlfriend and mother of his son, disagreed. She told TMZ that Judge Michael Pastor’s decision to give him the maximum sentence was ‘ridiculous’, especially since the judge said Murray didn’t show any remorse.
Alvarez said that Murray has been ‘mournful for the past two years’.
Murray, 58, was jailed today for ending the life and career of one of pop music’s greatest entertainers.
Judge Pastor and prosecutors called Conrad Murray a ‘danger to the community’, slamming Murray for playing ‘Russian roulette’ with the singer and using him as an ‘experiment’.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Whitmore told CBS News Murray’s sentence is automatically reduced to two years under Assembly Bill 109.
Murray, however, will be required to serve all of his halved sentence, minus 47 days he has already served, he said.
Murray did not openly react as he was sentenced after the trial, which has given the most detailed account yet of Jackson’s final hours.
‘Dr Murray engaged in a recurring, continuous pattern of deceit and lies,’ the judge said. ‘Dr Murray abandoned his patient,’ he added, saying Murray showed ‘absolutely no sense of remorse’.
‘Dr Murray created a set of circumstances and became involved in a cycle of horrible medicine.
‘The practice of Propofol for medicine madness, which violated his sworn obligation, for money, fame prestige and whatever else may have occurred.’
Judge Pastor said one of the most disturbing aspects of the Grenada-born physician’s case was a slurred recording of Jackson from the doctor’s mobile phone.
‘That tape recording was Dr. Murray’s insurance policy,’ Judge Pastor said. ‘It was designed to record his patient surreptitiously at that patient’s most vulnerable point.’
Murray blew a kiss to his family and supports as he was led out of court. The judge said his botched treatment of the star was ‘an insult to the medical profession’ and a ‘horrific violation of trust’.
The trial left questions about Murray’s treatment of the star with an operating-room anaesthetic as he battled chronic insomnia.
Defence lawyers were pushing for probation for the cardiologist in Los Angeles, saying he will lose his ability to practice medicine and likely face a lifetime of ostracism.
The singer’s mother Katherine and several siblings routinely attended the trial, and members of the family cried after Murray’s verdict was read in court. It followed Jackson’s tragic death in June 2009.
Murray told detectives he had been giving the singer nightly doses of Propofol to help him sleep as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts.
Propofol is supposed to be used in hospitals and has never been approved for sleep treatments, yet Murray acknowledged giving it to Jackson then leaving the room on the day the singer died.