BOOK REVIEW: Jermaine Jackson's 'You are Not Alone' , Part 2

I'm completely positive that not only Jermaine wasn’t actively involved 
in the writing of this book but also he didn’t even bother proof reading. Instead, he directed it to be rushed to print so it could debut right before the Conrad Murray Trial, capitalizing from the media frenzy as free publicity. Jermaine Jackson has always had a knack for turning Michael Jackson’s lemons into his lemonade! 

Jermaine's ghost writer insisting that Jermaine read this book thoroughly

"Jermaine" wrote that he decided to write this book in January 2011. 
The book made its debut in September 2011. That is 8 months, y'all. In comparison, Michael Jackson’s autobiography took 4 years. But then again, quality was an important factor for Michael who didn't short-change his fans. Jermaine, on the other hand, isn’t big on quality. All he cares is about is the money he can make without having earned it. What does he care, it isn’t his fans, it is Michael’s fans! It isn’t his fault that MJ’s sucker fans are willing to pay anything with Michael Jackson name on it. Have a ghost writer plagiarize from various resources, affix your name as the author, put Michael on the cover and ka-ching!

Judge The Book By Its Cover

Michael Jackson autobiography, titled “Moonwalk” debuted in 1988. It was ghost-written by Stephen Davis and edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Michael was heavily involved. It took 4 years for the book to come to fruition. The music titan ever self conscious of over-exposing himself gives the readers just enough about his personal life while focusing primarily on his art. 

Janet Jackson autobiography, titled “True You” debuted in 2011. Notice that the cover is a picture of her—Janet is a esteemed artist in her own right. She doesn’t need Michael Jackson to boost her book sales. Janet shares her struggles with weigh loss and “depression” and reaches out to people who are going through the same struggles. She writes a book to use her celebrity to inspire people—not to exploit her little brother. Don’t turn to this book for gossip about Janet and the Jackson Family—especially Michael Jackson—there is none.

Latoya Jackson autobiography, titled “Starting Over” debuted in 2011. The cover portends its content—while Latoya does exploit her little brother, she has plenty to write about her own life. Latoya is on a crusade to lend her…ahem…celebrity…for spreading awareness about the abuse she claims she endured in the hands of her former husband. Lest we forget that her first autobiography titled “Growing up in the Jackson Family” carried the same mission—but then, she was commiserating about the abuse she endured in the hands of her father, Joe, only to rescind those claims in this book. Stay tuned for her third biography in which she’ll probably blame 
                                                       Jeffree Phillips for her failures.

Jermaine Jackson’s "autobiography" 
is titled “You Are Not Alone Michael”, debuted in 2011. Although the back cover classified it as an autobiography, this book all about Michael Jackson.

Jermaine is someone who just happened to grow up under the same roof as the musical genius Michael Jackson. And boy, did he milk that for what's worth. Michael and Jermaine didn't have a close brotherly bond. It’s safe to say that his knowledge of Michael is less than that of avid Michael Jackson fans.

You’d think that Jermaine would proof-read this book which was researched and written entirely by a ghost writer [Steve Dennis]—at least out of curiosity. But Jermaine didn't bother. End result is an "autobiography" replete with inaccuracies such as spellings of his mom & brother's names and even his own birthday. There were numerous small factual errors that, in totality, add up to confirm that this book is the product of Steve Dennis' poor research skills [of which fans of Britney Spears also complain on amazon about a book he wrote.]

Only if you haven’t read other books written about Michael Jackson, will you be impressed with Jermaine Jackson’s book, believing that it's authentic. I will give several examples of plagiarism but to list them all would be tedious. Almost everything—I’d impartially say that perhaps %94 of this book comes from other books, Michael Jackson interviews and Internet sources (articles, news, blogs, videos etc).

The following are some of my notes while reading Jermaine Jackson's book:

Prologue xii “THRILLER! 100s MILLION SALES…SELL OUT STADIUMS”
&
Page 197 “THRILLER! 100 MILLIONS OF SALES…SELL-OUT STADIUMS”

The inspirational note that Michael Jackson allegedly wrote on his bathroom mirror isn’t the same on above two pages.

Prologue xii “November 2003—when he was arrested and charged”

Michael Jackson was arrested without formal charges. Yes, upon Tom Sneddon announcing that there is a warrant for his arrest, Mr. Jackson turned himself in on November 20, 2003 but he wasn’t charged until December 18, 2003

“There is a warrant outstanding and I can assure you that within a very short period of time, there will be charges filed against Mr. Jackson” 
~Tom Sneddon, Nov 19, 2003

Prologue xii “Yesterday, March 9, Gavin Arvizo began his testimony…
I watch the local news on TV, looking ahead to the Day 11 of the trial.”

March 10, 2005 was Day 9 of the trial — not Day 11

Prologue xvi “There is not one shred of evidence to justify this trial. This irrefutable truth would be confirmed by an FBI statement in 2009, making it clear after my brother’s death that there was never any evidence to support any allegation in 16 years of investigation.”

When you regurgitate info from the media without fact-checking, you run into the caveat of repeating misinformation. The misinfo that was published by various media outlets was that Michael was monitored by FBI for 16 years.

FBI didn't monitor Mr. Jackson 16 years. FBI assisted the investigation by California law enforcement between 1993-1994 and 2004-2005.  That's 2 years in regards to the molestation allegations [not 16 yrs].

(FBI files on Michael Jackson)

FBI did investigate various death threats made against Michael Jackson between 1992 and 2005. These investigations were to HELP Michael Jackson [not to monitor him for child molestation charges]. 

Prologue xvii “He looks like a white man splashed with coffee. This is the skin condition – the vitiligo— that a cynical world says he doesn’t have, preferring to believe that he bleaches his skin.”

Says the man who wrote Word to the Badd [Michael Jackson diss] 

Once you were made

You changed your shade  

Was your color wrong?”

Later in the book on Page 164, Jermaine further inflames the “cynical world”. He starts his anecdote with this ridiculous disclaimer: 

“As I write this I am fully aware of this one fact – if taken out of context— is danger of fanning the myth that Michael bleached his skin.

Jermaine recounts that Michael used Nadinola before he was ever diagnosed with Vitiligo. During his teenage years, Michael had acne problems which troubled him a great deal. Jermaine explains that Michael used Nadinola to fade scar marks because “for black kids, squeezing and picking [on pimples] leaves a mark darker than the natural skin color.” Although the product is marketed as “skin discoloration fade cream”, Jermaine calls it “a skin bleaching cream.”

Jermaine also posted a half-page, glossed picture of Michael with acne. And he made sure that it is in black and white so the acne is more visible. How many pictures do you think Jermaine posted depicting Michael's golden, charitable heart?

ZERO. 

When I see this picture, I see beauty but I know that Michael was sensitive about his acne - his feelings matter, yes, even after death. If Michael was my brother, I wouldn't go around highlighting a subject that I know he was sensitive about. This anecdote and the picture is the sensationalized garbage Michael talked about. This so-called tribute memoir reads like a tabloid garbage Michael warned us about.

His pimple-bursting ritual doesn’t add any value to a tribute memoir when the man left behind plenty of material to be documented for the new generations. Reading this silly anecdote, Michael’s words from his Oprah interview comes to mind:

“Do you know what’s so funny? Why is that so important? That’s not important to me. I’m a great fan of art. I love Michelangelo. If I get a chance to talk to him or read about him, I’d wanna know the anatomy of his craftsmanship — not about who he went out with last nite or why he decided to sit out in the sun so long, what’s wrong with him.”           ~ Michael Jackson

Prologue xviii “There is no way my brother is going to jail for this. 

He wouldn’t survive”

This is the same thing Jermaine was prepared to write in his book titled 'Legacy: Surviving the Best and the Worst’. Back then Jermaine intended to exploit his little brother by bashing him but since after Michael’s death, praising him became the fashionable and profitable thing to do, Jermaine dumped the disparaging remarks. But his belief that Michael wouldn’t survive prison remained in this book.

The following is an excerpt from Jermaine’s first book that didn’t see the daylight because Michael found out about it & put an end to it.

“My brother doesn’t always learn the valuable lessons life teaches. He is stubborn, hard-headed and, at times, harsh. He is cold, calculating and devious. The blood of his father runs freely through him. We were all afraid that the blood of Joseph Jackson would eventually contaminate all of us. But this is still my family and I love every one of them and I won’t sit by and let my brother go to prison. Prison would kill him. I’ve thought about doing the time for him, if he’s convicted. Michael wouldn’t survive in prison for one day. He’d commit suicide.”

Prologue xix “Lies run in sprints but the truth runs in marathons 
and the truth will win. The truest lyric he never sang.”
&

Page 376 “Lies run sprints but the truth runs marathons. The truth will run this marathon in court”.

Michael Jackson’s quote is used twice in this book—BOTH times different versions from each other and BOTH times inaccurately quoted. Also, the ghost writer erroneously wrote that it is a lyric — it isn’t. It is from the following statement, released on Nov 20, 2003
—the day Mr. Jackson turned himself in. 

Stuart Backerman, a spokesman for Michael Jackson, issued the following statement on behalf of the singer: 

The big lie against Michael Jackson is anchored in the most vicious allegation imaginable, one that resonates across every culture: the spectacle of harming a child. That spectacle invites outrage, and it should. But this spectacle is rooted in a lie.

Michael said "Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons. The truth will win this marathon in court." (source)

Page 8 “Neverland has been portrayed as the outlandish creation of 
‘a wild imagination’ with the suggestion that a love of Disney was its sole inspiration.”

As I mentioned in Part 1 of my review, the ghost writer’s use of quotation marks were rather confusing, considering that there wasn’t 

a single source-quote in this book. Unless you are an avid reader on Michael Jackson,  you can only wonder the source of a quote.

Randy Taraborrelli wrote: “Neverland Ranch was one of Michael Jackson’s greatest creations, the result of his imagination gone wild.” However he didn’t suggest that Disney was Michael’s inspiration. That came from Tom Mesereau who said “Neverland is not a haven for criminal activity as characterized by the prosecution. It's a Disneyland-like place for underprivileged and sick children to have a day of fun."

Page 12 “She was born Katie Scruse in May 1930”

She was born as Kattie Screws [named after her aunt.] After Martha—Kattie’s mom—got divorced, she changed Kattie’s name to Katherine Esther Scruse in 1934.

Page 12 “Her grandparents had been cotton farmers and her great-grandfather was a slave to an Alabama family called Scruse.”

The last name of the Alabama family who owned Katherine’s great-grandfather [Kendall Brown] was Screws—not Scruse. As mentioned above, Katherine mom changed Screws to Scruse in 1934 because it sounded similar but it was less suggestive.

Page 13 “When our parents met in 1949…”

Katherine and Joe met in 1948. The ghost writer unwittingly confirms this on Page 20 “On one date with Joseph as a 19 year old, they were at a dance floor at some party.” Joe was 19 year old in 1948.

Page 16 “My sister Rebbie came first, then Jackie (1951), Tito (1953),  me (1954), La Toya (1956), Marlon(1957), Michael(1958), Randy(1961) and Janet(1966)”

Katherine & Joe married in Nov 1949. Rebbie was born on May 1950. 
Do the math. They had to get married because Katherine was pregnant.

Page 17 “Whenever Mother was out and we brothers fought, we swore her [Latoya] into a pack. ‘Promise you won’t tell.’ ‘Promise’ she said convincingly. ‘I won’t tell.’ As soon as Mother was through the door, the promise was undone with a dramatic confession. ‘Mother, Jermaine’s been fighting.’ It didn’t even matter if she made stuff up.”

In her book, Katherine Jackson includes narratives by her children (except Michael). Compare Jermaine’s above excerpt with following excerpt from Katherine’s book, especially Jackie’s. 

          “KATHERINE: Jermaine was the tattletale.

            JACKIE: If we’d done something we didn’t want Dad to know about, we’d give Jermaine a cookie and make him promise not to tell. And he’d say “I promise.” But as soon as my father walked in the door, he’d go “Dad” and spill the beans anyway. Sometimes he’d even make up things.” (source)

Page 20 “As a two year old, she [Katherine] had polio. She had worn 
a wooden splint until she was ten.”

Katherine wrote in her book “I contracted it [polio] at the age of one and a half. I had to wear a brace on my leg for seven years.”

Page 21 “It took one spring and one summer for their romance to turn into marriage. Mother was on the street and Joseph was inside, sitting near his front window, when she rode by on a bicycle. They noticed each other. He plucked up the nerve to introduce himself. That led to a date at the movies and then the party with the dance floor. Katie Scruse fell in love with Joseph Jackson. They were wed in November 1949.”

The earlier years of Katherine and Joe in Jermaine’s book comes from Katherine and Joe’s books—only Jermaine’s ghost writer paraphrased some but omitted some conveniently.

Katherine and Joe’s history is less than the love at first sight “romance” in this book. You see, Katherine and Joseph dated for awhile but to Katherine’s dismay, Joe got married to another girl named Josephine. The couple moved in with her parents but they constantly fought because Joe couldn’t keep it in his pants—although in his book he deceptively wrote that it was Josephine with the fidelity issues. After 10 months of marriage, Joe and Josephine got divorced. I believe that Katherine and Joe had an affair while he was married. I also believe that they had to get married (because Katherine was pregnant with Reebie). Here’s their history as told in their books.

“One day I sat near the window and suddenly I saw a gorgeous girl with wonderfully beautiful features on the other side of the street, she went on a bicycle along the sidewalk. Her skin was yellowish-brown like the most sweet honey, she was the most beautiful shade I had ever seen. She reached to the end of street, stopped and rode back. When she passed by my house, she lifted her eyes and looked at me. She stopped at the end of the street again and she passed by again. She stopped her bike precisely in front of my house, on other side of the street. ‘Hi’ I shouted. She actually crossed the street to talk to me. I asked her name and where she lives. Her name was Katherine Scruse.” ~Joe

“My shyness as a child didn’t extend to boys. Together with Hattie {Katherine’s sister] and a few girlfriends, we founded a club in high school called the Blue Flames. Once every month or two, we’d hold a blue-light party in somebody’s home and invite our friends over to dance. With the twenty-five-cent admission we charged, we were able to save enough money to buy ourselves a nice gift at Christmas.

 I had already set my sights on the kind of man I wanted to marry: I wanted him to be a saxophone player. I thought saxophone players were sexy. It was at a house party when I first laid my eyes on Joe Jackson. I didn’t dance with him that night but when I saw him at another blue-light party, he noticed me and we danced a lot. I couldn’t do fast dancing because of my leg, so we danced to the slower songs.” ~Katherine

“Around midnight I took Kate home and led her to the front door. She stood there and looked at me like she thought I will come in with her.

 ‘Forgive me but I have to go’ she said.

 ‘Ok call me in the morning’ I said.

Finally the morning came. At 8 o'clock in the morning, the phone rang. It was Kate, she asked if I slept.

‘I could not fall asleep’ I said.

‘Joe, I too could not fall asleep’

‘Why?’

‘I keep thinking of the party and how we danced. I simply laid in bed and thought of it. I even wrote a letter to you’ she said.

‘But you live in the next street, we can meet and talk’ I said.

‘I wrote what I can’t say to you’

‘So where is the letter?’

‘I will bring it to you and I will put it on the porch’

‘Okay’

  I stood on the stairs before the front door when Katherine rode on the bicycle and gave me the letter. I opened the envelope. Katherine wrote me she loved me. And she confessed that there is another guy she likes. Since she mentioned his name, I asked around about him. I was told that he knows her from school, they were holding hands, kissing and hugging. They had been together for five years. She came to me after awhile and said: ‘we broke up. I told him that I love you.” ~Joe

Joe married Josephine AFTER he dated Katherine who tries to save face in her book, claiming that Joe got married because he didn’t know that Katherine liked him.

“I don’t think he knew that I had a crush on him, I didn’t tell him. Nowadays, it seems, girls often make the first move. I can’t believe how aggressive many young girls are today. But back then, no matter how much a girl liked a boy, she wouldn’t let him know. It wasn’t considered ladylike. Soon afterward, Joe married another girl, much to my disappointment. But their marriage lasted less than a year.” ~Katherine

Katherine wasn’t truthful in her above remarks. She wasn’t shy about boys, she wrote so in her book [excerpt above. “My shyness as a child didn’t extend to boys.”] and she did aggressively pursued Joe. They dated for awhile but Joe was also involved with Josephine and he chose to marry her. 

“I wanted to marry, there was one young lady with whom I had been in love, at least so I thought. Josephine and I married but unfortunately she was not loyal to me and we constantly argued because of that.” ~Joe

I believe that Katherine and Joe continued seeing each other even though Joe was married. Then Katherine got pregnant with Rebbie. 
Joe had to get divorced from Josephine and marry Katherine. 

To Be Continued......

Related links:

BOOK REVIEW: Jermaine Jackson's Book, Part 1

Katherine Jackson's Book [My Family: The Jacksons]

Joe Jackson's Book [The Jacksons]
Interview: Stephen Davis [Michael's Ghostwriter]

JANET JACKSON DID NOT DELAY MICHAEL JACKSON BURIAL

Vanity Fair published excerpts from an upcoming book on Michael Jackson by Randall Sullivan. They ran the article with the salacious title “Michael Jackson’s Burial Was Delayed Because Janet Wanted Her Burial-Plot Deposit Back.”

The article claimed that the burial was delayed for three months due to financial wrangling between Janet Jackson and the Michael Jackson Estate.

Sullivan claims "Janet put up the $40,000 deposit at Forest Lawn to secure a spot for Michael but refused to let the funeral take place until the money was repaid.”

                                                              This claim is baseless and totally false.

To secure a spot for Michael Jackson, the Jackson Family signed an initial contract with Forest Lawn on July 4, 2009 for basic funeral services for $103, 578. This included a $5000 a month charge for invaultment (to store Michael Jackson's body in a temporary vault). As per the contract, $49,372.50 advance toward the expenses had to be paid on July 6th and the remaining balance of $54,206 to be paid before the burial. Janet Jackson paid the advance of $49,372.50

This, however, didn’t mean that Mr. Jackson would indeed be laid to rest at Forest Lawn. The contract was just to secure a spot. As evidenced by the invaultment arrangement, the Jackson Family was still considering alternatives as the final resting place for the Gloved One. The reason that the burial was delayed for 3 months was the dissent among the Jackson Family members over a proper burial place. Neverland, Forest Lawn, Las Vegas and Garry, Indiana were among the Family's considerations.

Michael Jackson's Tomb

When the Family finally settled on the Forest Lawn, they then amended the initial Forest Lawn Contract, purchasing a tomb at the Great Mausoleum aka Fort Knox of Forest Lawn. The new funeral package incurred an additional $855,730.31 to the expenses. $590,000 of this was just for the tomb. Additionally, the Jackson family rented Villa Sorriso for a funeral repast (invitation-only family gathering after the burial) for $21,455

Janet's reimbursement was never an issue in Michael Jackson’s burial as Randall Sullivan claims. In fact, payment was no issue at all on any front. Randy Jackson, on behalf of the Jacksons Family, didn’t even approach the Estate for payment till August 29, 2009. This is the very date when the Jacksons learnt that neither the Forest Lawn nor the Glendale Police Department will proceed rendering their services without full payment.

Michael Jackson Estate was fully supportive of Michael Jackson getting a befitting send-off but because the Estate was under probate and such decision needed the approval of the probate judge, the Estate couldn’t just write a check. On Saturday August 29, 2009, The Estate advised Katherine’s attorney Burt Levitch to seek an immediate ex parte asking the judge to authorize the Estate to make the payment.

From: Paul Gordon Hoffman

Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2009 8:53 AM

To: Levitch, Burt

Cc: John Branca; John MCClain; Howard Weitzman

Subject: Funeral Expenses

Attachments: Funeral Estimate.pdf

Burt:

The Special Administrators and their counsel were contacted by Michael Kane, who was contacted by Randy Jackson who was seeking the guarantee of the Special Administrators that the funeral bills and related security costs would be paid out of the Estate.

As you know, the decisions regarding Michael Jackson's funeral are entirely those of Katherine Jackson, and the Special Administrators have no role in it. However, it appears that Mrs. Jackson and Randy Jackson may be under the erroneous impression that the Special Administrators can advance funds or guarantee reimbursement of costs for the funeral. Of course, the Special Administrators can do neither.

You may wish to consider seeking immediate ex parte approval of the court for payment of the expenses in advance of the final arrangements. The Special Administrators will waive the customary 24 hours notice if you choose to move on this matter on Monday morning. The Special Administrators are certainly supportive of the Mrs. Jackson's desire to have a funeral commensurate with Michael Jackson's status as perhaps the greatest entertainer who ever lived. However, on this matter, we must turn to you to represent your clients before the court, and trust that you will have your clients understand that the amount that the court will authorize for reimbursement is entirely in the hands of Judge Beckloff.

Paul

On Monday August 31, 2009 Katherine’s attorney Burt Levitch informed the Estate that he was going to appear at court on September 1, 2009

From: Burt Levitch

Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 1:06 PM

To: Paul Gordon Hoffman; Howard Weitzman

Subject: Estate of Michael Joseph Jackson -- Ex Parte Notice

Please be advised that, on behalf of Katherine Esther Jackson, I plan to appear ex parte in Room 258, Los Angeles Superior Court, 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, California 90012, at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 1, 2009, to seek an order for immediate payment from the Estate of the decedent's funeral expenses.

Should you have questions prior to the appearance, please let me know.

Burt

Katherine Jackson's "Ex Parte Application for an order authorizing the immediate payment of funeral expenses from the Estate" dated Sep 1, 2009 stated:

"Mrs. Jackson seeks an order granting the Special Administrators the authority to make immediate payment for the funeral expenses. Prompt action is necessary to facilitate the burial of the Decedent as scheduled on September 3, 2009. Forest Lawn requires payment in full before it will file for the requisite burial permit which needs to be issued in advance of the planned burial.

Only as recently as August 29, 2009 did Mrs. Jackson learn that both Forest Lawn and Glendale Police Department will not provide their services without receiving payment prior to rendering those services.

Mrs. Jackson requests that the court authorize the Special Administrators to pay the outstanding balance to the Forest Lawn and reimburse the family member who paid the initial installment on the contract for the funeral services.”

Judge Mitchell Beckloff swiftly approved all the funeral expenses asked by Katherine Jackson which is approximately $1 million. The funeral expenses were paid before the burial on Sep 3, 2009. The Estate reimbursed Janet in 2010.

At no point did the Estate or Janet Jackson make an issue of payment for the funeral expenses. Randall Sullivan’s claim that Janet Jackson or the Estate delayed Michael Jackson’s burial is absolutely false.

Related Links:

- Michael Jackson’s Burial Was Delayed Because Janet Wanted Her Deposit Back

- Janet Jackson Letter to Vanity Fair demanding Retraction

JANET JACKSON DEMANDS A RETRACTION 

Janet Jackson's attorney, Blair Brown sent the following letter to Vanity Fair, demanding 
a retraction of the false story on its website and in its November issue. 

Page 1

Page 2

October 5, 2012

Graydon Carter

Editor-in-Chief, Vanity Fair

Re: Retraction of Statements relating to Janet Jackson

Dear Mr. Carter:

I represent Janet Jackson. By this letter, I inform you that an article regarding my client that first appeared on Vanity Fair’s website on October 4, 2012 entitled “Michael Jackson’s Burial Was Delayed Because Janet Wanted Her Burial-Plot Deposit Back” is false and defamatory. This article, as well as the excepts from Randall Sullivan’s upcoming book, Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson, which were published in Vanity Fair’s November 2012 issue makes statements about Ms. Jackson that have no basis in fact and are highly damaging to Ms. Jackson’s reputation.

The article states that, according to Untouchable, Ms Jackson put down a $40,000 deposit to secure a burial plot for Michael Jackson but refused to let the funeral take place until that money was repaid. This is untrue. Ms. Jackson never delayed the funeral in any way. In fact, she paid for the funeral and was reimbursed for some of those expenses by Michael Jackson’s estate in the year after the services took place. In addition, there were other private costs associated with Michael Jackson’s passing that Ms. Jackson incurred and for which she has never sought reimbursement. To false accuse Ms. Jackson of holding up her brother’s funeral over money is outrageous. This story is particularly hurtful and distressing because of Ms. Jackson’s strong desire to serve her brother, whom she loved dearly, and her wish to stand with and support her family.

Moreover, this false and defamatory statement has been published by numerous other media outlets around the world including the New York Daily News and the UK-based Daily Mail Online and Huffington Post, among many others, exacerbating the damage to Ms. Jackson’s reputation.

I demand that Vanity Fair retract its statement that Ms. Jackson “refused” to let Michael Jackson’s funeral to take place until the money she put down as a deposit on his burial plot was repaid. To the extend that this statement appears in the excerpts of Untouchable published in Vanity Fair’s November 2012 issue, I demand that Vanity Fair publish a retraction explaining that the statement is false. I also demand that Vanity Fair contact all other media and websites that have re-published Vanity Fair’s false statement and inform them of its retraction and its corrective statement.

Blair G Brown

CONRAD MURRAY REQUEST TO TEST PROPOFOL VIAL IS MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

Nov 21, 2011 –  Two weeks after he is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson’s death, Conrad Murray attorney Michael Flanagan asked Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor to allow for People’s 30 to be tested for Lidocaine residue.

People's 30: 100ml Propofol vial found in an empty saline bag

 

Defense attorney Michael Flanagan contended in the motion that the test results is probative to “confirm of negate the accuracy of Dr. Shafer’s proposed scenario.”

Prosecution witness Dr Steven Shafer

The proposed scenario Michael Flanagan wants to confirm or negate is Dr. Steven Shafer's theory that Murray removed some Propofol from the 100ml propofol vial, added some Lidocaine then infused the vial into Michael Jackson.

Michael Flanagan contends that if Dr. Steven Shafer's theory is correct then the residue in the vial should contain Lidocaine. Flanagan stated that it didn't occur to him to test the contents of the vial because Dr. Shafer testified that he believed Murray injected Lidocaine into the Propofol vial when he was recalled at the very end of the trial.

Propofol causes burning at the injection site. To alleviate the burning, Conrad Murray used Lidocaine. Lidocaine comes in cream form and the injectable liquid form. Conrad Murray bought both kinds. So perhaps, that morning he used Lidocaine cream. Or perhaps he injected Lidocaine via the y-port of the concoction he set up. This is substantiated by the presence of Lidocaine in the short tubing of the IV set-up. Who knows how Conrad Murray gave Lidocaine that morning. What we do know is that this subject is not, AT ALL, important in the grand scheme of things.

Prosecutor David Walgren objected to the testing arguing that "whether there was Lidocaine in that bottle or not is completely irrelevant. The trial is done. It was a fair trial.”

Judge Michael Pastor denied Conrad Murray's request stating: 

“this is not surprising evidence. This exhibit has been around since the inception of the case. There is no justification for the court to respond favorably to this type of extraordinary motion.”

Jun 25, 2012 – Conrad Murray took his request to test the propofol vial to the Appellate Court. “If a forensic examination of the residue in Exhibit 30 revealed no lidocaine, it would completely negate 
[Dr. Shafer’s] theory” stated Conrad Murray attorney Valeria Wass. 

Aug 13, 2012 – Appellate Court denied Conrad Murray’s request.

Oct 2, 2012 – Conrad Murray takes his case to the Supreme Court. 

From the get-go, Conrad Murray’s defense 
centered around accusing Michael Jackson of causing his own death - albeit their stories ever-changing. First they said Mr. Jackson drank Propofol. When science proved that drinking Propofol wouldn’t cause death, they claimed Mr. Jackson self injected Propofol. Upon no Michael Jackson fingerprints on either the syringe or the propofol vial, the defense moved onto their Lorazepam theory which was refuted by the prosecution

The testing of propofol vial is Conrad Murray grasping at straws. EVEN IF Michael Jackson did cause his demise, Conrad Murray would still have been guilty. Prosecution witness Dr Steven Shafer was left to postulate various theories because Conrad Murray didn’t maintain any records of his “insomnia treatment with Propofol.” The prosecution doesn’t have to exactly pinpoint how Conrad Murray killed Michael Jackson.

The request to test the propofol vial is basically Conrad Murray saying: 

“THAT is not how I killed Michael Jackson.”

“All of this is speculation, because there are no medical records. If there were medical records we wouldn’t be engaging in this ‘guess what I did’ nonsense.” ~ DR STEVEN SHAFER

The jury didn’t convict Conrad Murray because there may or may not be a propofol infusion. They convicted him for being “a substantial factor” in Michael Jackson’s death.

“The alleged victim [Michael Jackson] may have contributed to the death. However, if the defendant’s [Conrad Murray's] act or failure to perform a legal duty was a substantial factor causing the death, then the defendant is legally responsible for the death.” ~JURY INSTRUCTIONS

In my opinion, Conrad Murray request will be denied by the Supreme Court also. Because the testing is totally irrelevant to the guilty verdict.

Related Link:
Conrad Murray Looks to Calif. Supreme Court to overturn conviction