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Were you surprised to hear the guilty verdict in the Michael Jackson death case this afternoon? At the Anderson Law Firm, our staff wasn't too shocked. We did a poll a little bit before the verdict and if our employees had been on the jury, we would have found Dr. Murray guilty as well.
After about nine hours of deliberations that spanned two days, the jury deciding the fate of Michael Jackson's doctor reached their guilty verdict Monday. In order to find Murray guilty, the state had to prove that:
1) The defendant committed a crime that posed a high risk of death or great bodily injury because of the way the act was committed or the defendant committed a lawful act, but with criminal negligence; and
2) The defendant's acts unlawfully cause another person's death.
The defense said that it was Jackson himself, who injected the fatal dose of propofol, but we didn't buy that story and neither did the jury. What the jury is saying by this verdict is that at least one grossly negligent act, or failure to act, by Murray was a "substantial factor" in causing Jackson's death. Now, Murray's fate rests in the hands of the judge, not the jury. Murray could get a sentence that ranges anywhere from probation to a maximum of four years in jail and he faces the loss of his medical license in California, Nevada, Texas and Hawaii.