Michael Jackson doctor wishes he had testified

By Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY

Posted June 26, 2012

As fans and family marked the third anniversary of Michael Jackson's death on Monday, one of Conrad Murray's lawyers said the convicted doctor wishes now that he had taken the stand in his own behalf.

Murray began serving a four-year jail term in November after a jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the singer's death. Two of his lawyers visited Murray on Monday at the Los Angeles County jail where he is incarcerated, reports Reuters.

J. Michael Flanagan said the doctor was "adapting fairly well for a person who is serving time and who is actually innocent."

During the trial, Murray's attorneys denied he was guilty of criminal negligence, yet the physician never took the witness stand in his own defense.

"Murray now realizes that he should have testified," Flanagan said, adding that there were various nuances in the case that Murray alone, as the only person who was with Jackson in the last hours of his life, could explain to the jury. Lawyers are working on an appeal, and Flanagan expects Murray to serve no more than two years of his term.

"Now he says that the biggest mistake he made in the trial of the case was not testifying," Flanagan said. "We had so many gaps in the case that needed to be filled, that could only be supplied by Dr. Murray."