Woman Describes Phone Call With Murray

Los Angeles - A woman who met Michael Jackson's personal physician while working as a cocktail waitress in Houston testified today that she was talking on the phone with the doctor on the day the singer died, apparently at the moment he realized Jackson had stopped breathing.

Testifying in the involuntary-manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, Sade Anding testified that she received a phone call from Murray at 11:51 a.m. June 25, 2009, and the call -- according to phone records cited by prosecutors -- lasted 11 minutes.

"I asked Dr. Murray how he was doing. He said, `Well,' and he paused," she said. "I started telling him about my day. That's when I realized he was no longer on the phone."

Anding said she pressed the phone to her ear and could hear sounds that made her think Murray's cell phone might be in his pocket.

"I heard mumbling of voices and I heard coughing," she said, noting that it was about five or six minutes into the conversation when she realized Murray was no longer on the line. She said she could not recognize the mumbling voices she heard.

Anding said she eventually hung up the phone and tried to call Murray back twice, but he did not answer. She then sent him a text message.

It was only later that she heard Michael Jackson had died, Anding testified.

She noted that she called Murray the following month after learning that Los Angeles Police Department detectives wanted to speak with her.

"He told me, 'Why are they calling you? I'm so sorry they're contacting you,"' she said.

Anding said Murray told her to contact his lawyer before calling the LAPD.

Anding, who said she met Murray in February 2009, said she and Murray were just friends, although he once playfully referred to her as his girlfriend.

Murray, 58, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Jackson's death from acute propofol intoxication. He faces up to four years in state prison if convicted.

When Jackson died at age 50, the cardiologist was working for him at a rented mansion, where the pop star was staying while rehearsing for 50 sold-out concerts in London dubbed "This Is It." Prosecutors contend Murray gave Jackson propofol and then failed to monitor him, leaving his bedroom for at least 45 minutes to make phone calls and send emails.

Defense attorneys insist Murray was weaning Jackson off the medication and that he gave him only a small amount of propofol, but that Jackson "self-administered" a larger dose, killing himself instantly after the doctor left the room.