Report: Murray Defense Team at Odds

Los Angeles - Defense attorneys for Conrad Murray are being plagued by infighting, and two of them are no longer on speaking terms, RadarOnline reported Monday.

Murray, 58, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the June 25, 2009, death of Michael Jackson. Prosecutors claim that Jackson died because Murray, the pop star's personal physician, was criminally negligent in rendering the anesthetic propofol on Jackson.

But his lawyers are expected to argue at Los Angeles County Superior Court this week that Jackson injected himself with propofol without Murray's knowledge.

Houston-based Ed Chernoff, Murray's lead attorney, reportedly moved out of the San Marino, Calif., home of Michael Flanagan, another member of the defense team, as a result of a major disagreement between the two. Chernoff had been staying with Flanagan to save his client money.

"Ed didn't like the way Michael was handling the prosecution witnesses," a source close to Murray said. "Ed felt that Michael was too abrasive and caustic with his questioning and that Michael allowed witnesses to clarify points that only helped the prosecution's case. Things were getting very tense, and he's moved into a hotel in Santa Monica."

The final straw came when Chernoff decided to grill the prosecution's key expert witness, Steven Shafer -- a professor of anesthesiology at Columbia University and leading expert on propofol -- last week, replacing Flanagan, who had prepared to cross-examine him for the past four months.

"Michael was thoroughly prepared and ready to attempt to poke holes into what Shafer had already told the jury on direct examination. When Ed told Michael that he would be handling Shafer, he felt like the rug was pulled out from under him," the source said, adding that there was nothing Flanagan could do about it because Chernoff was the lead attorney.

Flanagan was brought on board to handle the medical aspects of the case, along with the witnesses.

"Ed and Michael are barely talking to each other right now. Michael has essentially been frozen out for the time being," the source added.

The defense team is expected to call approximately 15 witnesses.

Murray could face up to four years in prison and lose his medical license if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Source: RadarOnline.com