Feb. 2, 2010. Associated Press
LOS ANGELES – Lawyers for Michael Jackson‘s doctor were meeting Wednesday to talk about their client’s defense strategy in the event he’s charged in the death of the singer.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Conrad Murray and his lawyers had received no word from prosecutors about a decision from the district attorney.
Lead attorney Ed Chernoff was waiting for news in a Los Angeles-area hotel, and planned to meet with the other two members of the defense team later in the day.
Chernoff said Murray was at a friend’s house in Santa Monica, where a crowd of paparazzi was waiting outside. Fifteen miles to the east, a contingent of camera crews and photographers waited at the downtown courthouse, but by afternoon some were drifting away.
District Attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said she had no word on when any developments were likely.
Meanwhile, a lawyer who told CBS’ “The Early Show” on Wednesday that Jackson’s family believes involuntary manslaughter charges against Murray would be “just a slap on the wrist” later told the AP he was expressing his own opinions.
Attorney Brian Oxman said the only members of the family he has spoken to are Michael Jackson‘s father, Joseph, and sister La Toya, and “they just want justice.”
“I speak for myself and only myself,” said Oxman. “I don’t speak for anyone else and never have presumed to speak for anyone other than myself.”
He said he sometimes reports what others in the family have told him but he is not authorized to be their spokesman.
“They’re not angry,” Oxman said. “They’re not vindictive. They have a loved one who they’ve lost and they’re heartbroken.”
The lawyer representing Jackson’s mother, Katherine, said his client felt the same way.
“Mrs. Jackson is really going to rely on the good faith of the authorities to make sure justice is done,” said Adam Streisand.
Murray told police he administered Jackson a powerful anesthetic and other sedatives shortly before the singer’s death June 25.
Murray maintains nothing he gave Jackson should have killed him.