Doctor’s Lawyer: ‘No Demerol, No OxyContin’ Given To Jackson

 
 

FIRST PUBLISHED: June 28, 2009 1:12 PM EDT
LAST UPDATED: June 28, 2009 5:28 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Dr. Conrad Murray, the Houston-based doctor who was with Michael Jackson when the singer suffered cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home on Thursday, did not inject the star with a shot of Demerol earlier that day, his lawyer told the Los Angeles Times.

According to attorney Edward Chernoff, there was “no Demerol, no OxyContin,” contrary to reports that Michael had been given prescription medications just prior to his death.

Chernoff said that Murray had not “furnished or prescribed” Jackson with Demerol. Instead, he claimed Murray found the star unconscious in his bedroom.

“[Jackson] wasn’t breathing. He checked for a pulse. There was a weak pulse in his femoral artery. He started administering CPR,” Chernoff told the Times.

The doctor spoke with authorities a second time late Saturday, Access Hollywood has confirmed.

Murray was “cooperative and provided information which will aid the investigation,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement to Access.

Murray had briefly spoken with police following Jackson’s death. However, LAPD had been looking to speak with the doctor for an in-depth interview.

Murray “voluntarily contacted” police and provided “an extensive interview” on Sunday, a spokesperson for the LAPD told Access.

Police had described Murray as a witness – not a suspect – and were looking to speak with him for more details on what happened when Jackson collapsed in his Holmby Hills home in Los Angeles.

As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Murray has hired the Houston law firm Stradley, Chernoff & Alford.

During his meeting with police, Murray brought an attorney along with him.

“Dr. Murray is considered to be a witness to the events surrounding Michael Jackson’s death and he is not a suspect,” a spokesperson for Stradley, Chernoff & Alford said in a statement to the Associated Press. “Dr. Murray hired legal counsel to help guide him through the police investigation process. The law firm was hired to make sure the police investigation is conducted properly.”

Murray’s spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik also told the AP that the doctor “helped identify the circumstances around the death of the pop icon and clarified some inconsistencies. Investigators say the doctor is in no way a suspect and remains a witness to this tragedy.”

According to the 911 call that alerted authorities to the singer’s collapse, “just the doctor” had been with the star when he fell unconscious.

The call further stated that the doctor performed CPR on Jackson, who was unresponsive, before the arrival of the paramedics.

On Thursday night, authorities impounded Murray’s car from Jackson’s rented residence because it potentially contained medications or other evidence, an act the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to Access Hollywood.

According to a source at AEG, the concert promoters behind Jackson’s “This Is It” London shows, which were set to begin in July, Murray was the doctor the star insisted upon and was on the tour payroll.

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