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Summary The prosecution and defence lawyers of Michael Jackson case closed their arguments in the court.
The trial of Michael Jacksons doctor has transformed into a contest between the superstar and the physician, with a prosecutor saying Dr Conrad Murray killed his patient and a defence lawyer blaming Jackson for his own death.During closing arguments, prosecutor David Walgren called Murray a liar and an opportunist who put his own welfare before that of Jackson.Defence lawyer Ed Chernoff cast Murray as a victim of Jacksons celebrity, saying he would never have been charged with wrongdoing if his patient was someone other than Jackson. The case later went to the jury, with deliberations set to begin later Friday.Chernoff said prosecutors hadnt proven that Murray committed a crime by giving Jackson doses of the anaesthetic propofol as a sleep aid in the singers bedroom.Earlier, during his closing argument, Walgren projected images of Jacksons grief-stricken children on a giant screen and told jurors that Murray took away their father.With Jacksons mother and siblings watching from the courtroom gallery, Walgren showed a photo of Jackson at his last rehearsal before the picture of the three Jackson children - Prince, Paris and Blanket - at their fathers memorial.He also reminded jurors of the scene in Jacksons bedroom when Paris came upon Murray frantically trying to revive her lifeless father and screamed, DaddyThe prosecutor repeatedly called Murrays treatment of Jackson bizarre and said there was no precedent for the cardiologist giving the singer the powerful anaesthetic to help him sleep.Still, Jackson trusted him and that eventually cost the singer his life, Walgren said.Walgren, in a carefully structured argument enhanced by video excerpts of witness testimony, spoke of the special relationship between a doctor and patient and said Murray had corrupted it in the treatment of his famous client.
