Murray Defense Grills Investigator About Her Work

Los Angeles - A coroner's investigator on Thursday defended the way she documented and collected evidence from Michael Jackson's rented mansion after the singer's death, while acknowledging that she moved a medicine vial before photographing it and left her thumbprint on a syringe.

"Would you agree you made a substantial number of mistakes in your investigation?" defense attorney Edward Chernoff asked coroner's investigator Elissa Fleak while cross-examining her in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray.

"No," she responded.

Murray, 58, is charged with involuntary manslaughter stemming from Jackson's June 25, 2009, death at age 50 from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol.

Fleak conceded under questioning from Murray's attorney that she picked up a bottle of the medication flumazenil from the floor of Jackson's bedroom and moved it to a bedside table before any photographs were taken.

She also acknowledged that she left a partial thumbprint or fingerprint on a syringe found in the room.

"I found that out later," Fleak said of the thumbprint, noting that she typically wears gloves at scenes she is investigating. She said the print may have gotten on the syringe when she was moving a nightstand and glass table next to Jackson's bed to photograph a vial of propofol on the floor.

"I don't remember if I was wearing gloves when the tables were moved," she said.

Chernoff asked her, "You don't consider any of that a mistake?"

"A mistake? No," Fleak responded, although she said she should have photographed the flumazenil bottle on the floor before moving it.

She also acknowledged on cross-examination that she had not documented an IV bag, syringe and tubing in her initial report of the scene, did not collect a Naked juice bottle sitting on a table near the bed and did not take photos of a propofol bottle that she said was found inside an IV bag before the vial was taken out.

She said took the bottle out of the IV bag "to see what it was" and then laid it on top of the bag to photograph what had been found, but agreed that she could have taken a photo to document what she had seen before the bottle was removed.

Chernoff also questioned why Fleak destroyed her notes from her first visit to Jackson's estate the day the singer died, with the investigator responding that she intentionally destroys her notes from all scenes once she writes a detailed coroner's office report.

"Ms. Fleak, did you conduct a perfect investigation in this case?" Deputy District Attorney David Walgren asked in a renewed round of questioning after the defense's attack on the quality of her work.

"No," she responded.

"Are there always things you would have done differently?" Walgren asked.

"Yes," she responded, adding that she had done her best to accurately describe what she had seen.

The coroner's investigator had earlier testified that she found 12 vials of propofol inside the estate during her two visits to the Holmby Hills home -- 11 of them during her return visit on June 29, 2009, after Murray had spoken with police. She testified that she also found a number of other items of medical evidence, including a number of other prescription medication containers.

Meanwhile, attorneys from both sides stipulated that a left index fingerprint on a 100-milliliter vial of propofol that prosecutors contend was found inside an IV bag that was in another bag in Jackson's bedroom closet was matched to Murray.

Fingerprints were found on that IV bag, another IV bag and one of the 20-milliliter vials of propofol, but no identification of the prints was made, according to the stipulation read by the prosecutor.

Fingerprints from Murray and Jackson were among those "manually compared and eliminated" involving the saline bag that the prosecution contends contained a 100-milliliter vial of propofol, and a 20-milliliter bottle of propofol found on the floor, along with another 20-milliliter vial of propofol found in a Costco bag and an IV bag and tubing that were collected four days after Jackson's death, according to the stipulation.