Coroner: No Evidence Jackson Took Fatal Dose of Propofol

Los Angeles - A Los Angeles County deputy medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Michael Jackson testified Tuesday that he concluded the singer did not self-administer the powerful anesthetic propofol that caused his death on June 25, 2009.

Dr. Christopher Rogers -- who determined that Jackson's death was a "homicide" -- told the seven-man, five-woman jury hearing the involuntary manslaughter case against Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, that "the circumstances from my point of view do not support self-administration of propofol."

He noted that Murray acknowledged to police that he had given a 25-milligram dose of propofol, but said "there was not an appropriate medical indication" for the doctor to give the 50-year-old entertainer propofol to help him sleep.

"I believe that, in general, it is not appropriate to treat insomnia with propofol," Rogers said.

The deputy medical examiner also told jurors that there was not an EKG monitor or a precision dosing device to ensure how much medication Jackson was being given.

"Essentially, the doctor would be estimating how much he was giving," Rogers said, noting that it would be easy "for the doctor to estimate wrong and give too much propofol."

He said it was a "less reasonable" scenario for Jackson to wake up under the influence of propofol and other sedatives while Murray was using the bathroom, to administer propofol to himself and stop breathing within the two-minute period of time the doctor told police that he was out of Jackson's bedroom.

"To me, that seemed like the less reasonable possibility," he said under cross-examination by defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan.

Rogers said he was not immediately able to determine based on the autopsy what had caused Jackson's death, saying that he believed Jackson was "healthier than the average person of his age."

The deputy medical examiner said a photo taken of Jackson's nude body -- shown to the jurors on a large screen with the singer's genital area blacked out -- accurately depicted the singer's condition at the time.

Further testing helped to determine that Jackson's death was caused by acute propofol intoxication, with "benzodiazepene effect" as a contributing condition, he said. He noted that the sedatives midazolam and lorazepam were found in Jackson's system, along with propofol.

The deputy medical examiner said he had sought out records involving Murray's medical treatment of Jackson the day of his death, but had not been able to obtain any.

Shown a photo of a vial of propofol seized at Jackson's home, Rogers said he noticed that the center of the vial's rubber stopper has a "more or less linear opening in it" that could have been created by a "spike" -- a medical device that would be pushed into the stopper and result in propofol flowing out through the end.

A spike was included in IV tubing that had earlier been identified as being recovered from Jackson's home during a June 29, 2009, search, Rogers said.

He noted that the coroner's office had consulted with an anesthesiologist who indicated that the level of propofol found in Jackson's system was similar to levels used in general anesthesia for major surgery.

Prosecutors allege that the 58-year-old Murray, a cardiologist, administered a large dose of propofol to Jackson, then left him unattended to make phone calls and send emails. Previous witnesses have testified about being on the phone with Murray that morning, or about emails the doctor sent from his iPhone during the same time period, despite the doctor's assertion that he only left Jackson's side for a few minutes.

Defense attorneys maintain that Murray was weaning Jackson off propofol -- which the singer used to help him sleep -- and gave him only a small amount of it but that Jackson "self-administered" a larger dose, killing himself instantly after the doctor left the room.