Bluuuue Rajah wrote:
>
> LA police under scrutiny in Jackson death
>
> news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090702/ap_en_ce/us_michael_jackson_investigation_1
>
> Linda Deutsch And Thomas Watkins, AP Writers – 33 mins ago
>
> LOS ANGELES – The investigation of Michael Jackson's death is widening
> as questions intensify about the drugs he took, the doctors who provided
> them and the actions of police.
>
> Why didn't police seal the mansion where he had been living? Why didn't
> they get immediate search warrants? Why did they tow away a doctor's car
> right after the death but not declare the home a crime scene? And why
> was Jackson's sister Janet allowed to move possessions out of the
> mansion two days after the death, before police searched it?
>
> Los Angeles police say proper procedures were followed based on the
> circumstances officers encountered when they were called to the home at
> 12:21 p.m. on June 18. A doctor was attending to Jackson and stayed with
> him when he was placed in an ambulance at 1:07 p.m. There was no sign of
> foul play.
>
> Others say police should have assumed it was possible a crime occurred
> and taken precautions to ensure the scene was not disrupted so evidence
> wasn't lost or tainted.
>
> "If I was the chief detective on the case, I would have said, 'We don't
> know what's going on. We should seal the scene,'" said defense attorney
> Harland Braun, who has represented celebrities including Robert Blake,
> Roseanne and Gary Busey. "You always have to think of the worst-case
> scenario and you have to think fast. I would have sealed the scene just
> because it was Michael Jackson."
>
> Whether the Jackson probe turns into a criminal investigation hinges on
> what evidence emerges involving the drugs. Charges could be brought if
> authorities determine Jackson had been overly prescribed medications, if
> he had been given drugs inappropriate for his medical needs, or if
> doctors knowingly prescribed Jackson medications under an assumed name.
>
> It's still not known what caused Jackson's death at age 50. The pop star
> went into cardiac arrest in his bedroom and his personal physician, Dr.
> Conrad Murray, performed CPR while an ambulance was called, according to
> Murray's lawyers. Murray has spoken to police and authorities say he is
> not a suspect, though his actions have come under scrutiny because his
> own lawyers acknowledge it may have taken up to a half-hour for an
> ambulance to be summoned.
>
> An autopsy was conducted but results are not expected for several weeks.
> The Jackson family had a second autopsy performed and those results also
> are pending.
>
> On Wednesday, The Associated Press learned Los Angeles police asked the
> Drug Enforcement Administration to assist in the investigation.
>
> DEA agents participated in the investigation of the 2007 overdose death
> of Anna Nicole Smith at a Florida hotel. California Attorney General
> Jerry Brown charged her former boyfriend and two of her doctors in March
> with conspiring to provide Smith with prescription drugs. Brown said
> they broke the law because Smith was a "known addict." They deny the
> charges.
>
> The DEA also probed whether painkillers found in actor Heath Ledger's
> system after his death last year were obtained illegally. Federal
> prosecutors did not charge anyone.
>
> Jean Rosenbluth, a University of Southern California law professor, said
> the agency's involvement in the Jackson case suggests authorities are
> looking into whether drugs came from out of state. Murray lives in Las
> Vegas and is licensed to practice in Texas, Nevada and California.
>
> Federal drug regulations include controls over whether and how
> frequently a doctor can write prescriptions over the phone, and DEA
> agents could be looking to see if these rules were broken, Rosenbluth
> said.
>
> "You can't just get on the phone and continue to prescribe something for
> someone without having seen them for a long period of time," she said.
>
> Jackson had a well-known history of using prescription medications,
> especially painkillers. Following his death, Cherilyn Lee, a registered
> nurse who had worked for Jackson, told the AP she repeatedly rejected
> his demands for the drug Diprivan, also known as Propofol. It's a potent
> anesthetic used in operating rooms and it would be highly unusual to
> have it in a private home.
>
> Uri Geller, a former Jackson confidant, said he tried to keep Jackson
> from abusing painkillers and other prescription drugs, but others in the
> singer's circle kept him supplied.
>
> "When Michael asked for something, he got it," Geller said in a
> telephone interview from his suburban London home.
>
> Jackson had multiple doctors and many others like Geller who came in and
> out of his life. Which people are being interviewed by police is unclear
> because the LAPD has said virtually nothing about the probe.
>
> "I am not going to make any comments on the investigation," Commander
> Patrick Gannon, the designated police spokesman on the Jackson case,
> said by e-mail Thursday.
>
> Any evidence would be turned over to the district attorney's office,
> which has final say on criminal charges.
>
> One of the key questions is why it took four days for police to issue a
> search warrant and remove medications from Jackson's home. In the
> meantime, several people, including Janet Jackson, removed unknown items
> from the home.
>
> Although the home wasn't declared a crime scene, police did tow Murray's
> car the evening of the death to look for potential evidence.
>
> Vernon J. Geberth, former commanding officer of the Bronx Homicide Task
> force in New York, said police should have known they were dealing with
> an extraordinary situation.
>
> "If it's a high-profile person, you have to do more than you would do
> ordinarily," he said.
>
> Still, Geberth, who now acts as a private forensic consultant, said he
> believes the LAPD acted appropriately.
>
> "Having a doctor present altered the equation. It was not a homicide
> scene. It was an emergency medical scene," he said.
>
> The LAPD has not opened any review of its handling of the case,
> according to the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents
> rank-and-file LAPD officers.
>
> Rosenbluth said if the case ends up as a criminal prosecution, any
> defense attorney would seize on the LAPD's failure to immediately seal
> Jackson's home.
>
> "If you can get even one juror think, I don't know, maybe somebody
> fiddled with the medicine before the police came in and collected it,
> that's reasonable doubt," she said. "All that the defense attorney needs
> is one juror."
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