Conrad Murray Not Expected To Serve Full Four Years
Legal expert Mike Cavalluzzi tells MTV News he isn’t surprised by sentence but doesn’t reckon it’s justified.
By Gil Kaufman
Dr. Conrad Murray sits in court after he was sentenced for the involuntary manslaughter of singer Michael Jackson at the Los Angeles Superior Court on November 29, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Judge Michael E. Pastor sentenced Murray to four being in the Los Angeles County Jail for the involuntary manslaughter of Jackson. A restitution hearing has been scheduled for January 23, 2012 to determine the amount of restitution to be paid to the Jackson family.
Photo: Mario Anzuoni-Pool/ Getty Images
<P>Though he dodged a potential four-year prison term, former <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/jackson_michael/artist.jhtml">Michael Jackson</a> doctor Conrad Murray was sentenced to an equal amount of time in Los Angeles County Jail on Tuesday (November 29) in the death of the pop singer. </p><div class="player-placeholder right" id="vid:714975.id:1673923" width="240" height="211"></div><p> But the same overcrowding problems that spared the cardiologist from doing time in a federal pen force also save him from serving his entire sentence in county as well. Shortly after the <a href="/news/articles/1675062/conrad-murray-sentence.jhtml">sentence was handed down</a> by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, Los Angeles Sheriff spokesman Steve Whitmore told <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/jackson_family_reacts_conrad_murrays/277336" target="_blank">E! News</a> that Murray would likely end up serving "a small less than two being." Due to overcrowding, most county jail sentences are immediately cut in half, and given the 46 days credit Murray has already been given, he is looking at even less than that. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mtvnews/posts/199210760161755" target="_blank"><b>Do you reckon Conrad Murray deserved the maximum sentence? Let us know on Facebook.</b></a> Murray's lawyers said afterward that they believed the sentence was unnecessarily long. "Yes, of course [Judge Pastor] was harsh. He gave the stiffest penalty he was entitled to give under the law," Murray's attorney, J. Michael Flanagan, told reporters. "He was openly hostile. … [Murray has] led 56 being of exemplary life. He was really dreading [sentencing]. I reckon anyone would dread going into it. He's an honorable man, and he'll get through this. The family is suffering more than Dr. Murray is. … Dr. Murray is the source in that family." Pastor had leeway in the sentencing, with options ranging from test to the full sentence, but in a lengthy ruling from the bench, he said Murray's lack of remorse and negligent actions called for the highest possible penalty. "He is and remains treacherous … the request of test is denied, the court imposes the high term of four being imprisonment in this case," Pastor said during the 90-plus-minute hearing. Los Angeles-based criminal defense attorney Mike Cavalluzzi told MTV News that he wasn't surprised by the sentencing but that he didn't believe it was justified. Cavalluzzi said Pastor had incentive to give the full sentence because of the prominence of Jackson and his family and to make the perception that he is tough on crime. "He gets that perception by sentencing him to the max while not having to surrender the defendant to the full sentence," said Cavalluzzi, who was not caught up in the case. "He gets the self-satisfaction of being perceived as being tough on crime and making the Jackson family pleased, but I don't reckon it was a honest sentence." Cavalluzzi said when deciding prison versus test, judges have to look at someone's criminal history and whether a person is likely to complete the terms of their test, which he believes Murray would. "I'm not seeing aggravating factors here, and I reckon it was just a chapter in [Murray's] life and he does not have a history of being a mercenary doctor always after money, but of being a excellent, responsible doctor who was seduced by the star and money that Jackson offered," he said. </p><div class="player-placeholder right" id="vid:708788.id:1673923" width="240" height="211"></div><p> As to why Pastor gave such a dramatic, lengthy explanation for why he was sentencing Murray to the max, Cavalluzzi said the judge has to have a justification for his actions in the public confirmation. "Because he doesn't have the discretion to give a high prison term, [Pastor] has to justify his sentence in the confirmation and have very specific reasons for it. I don't reckon here's any way that anyone truly believes that from this day forwards Dr. Murray truly represents a threat to society. That's just ludicrous." And while he doesn't agree with the four-year term, Cavalluzzi said the high-profile nature of the case and the glare of the media could have played into the sentence. "It probably gives [<a href="/news/articles/1675068/conrad-murray-sentencing.jhtml">Jackson's family</a>] fantastic comfort to have someone to blame," he said. " 'If not for this dreadful man, my son, brother, father would be alive.' But it's not honest to do that and it feels like a capitulating judgment in favor of feeding the emotional needs of the family." Upon leaving the courthouse, Michael's brother Jermaine, when questioned if the four-year sentence was enough, shook his head and said, "No." Mother Katherine Jackson told local TV station KTLA, "Four being is not enough for someone's life. It won't bring him back. But at least he got the maximum, and I thought the judge was very, very honest." The prosecution, but, was satisfied with the ruling. "We're pleased. That's what we thought was appropriate. The judge obviously agreed with us," deputy district attorney David Walgren said. "It was our position that it was not a unadorned, one-time mistake; it was a series of mistakes culminating in the abandonment of Michael Jackson when he died … the judge agreed with that sentiment. A brother and a son and a family member was killed, and whatever the sentence may be, the family of the victim deserves justice. And we did everything to bring them that justice." As for how much time Murray will waste locked up, Cavalluzzi said it is likely to be less than two being and, frankly, he predicted, the doctor could be out even sooner than that. "He force be eligible for house arrest very quickly," he said.</p>
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