'GMA' Exclusive: Conrad Murray's Lawyer Speaks Out
mike von fremd, kaitlyn folmer & lee ferran
viaGMA
The attorney for Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, today aggressively contested media reports -- based on a leaked witness report -- that Murray attempted to hide evidence and delayed calling 911 as Jackson lay dying and said investigators rushed to implicate Murray in the star's death.
"It's just a bald-faced lie," Ed Chernoff said in an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America" that aired today. "[The] doctor called 911 as soon as he could… Let me just say, unequivocally, he did not – he was not cleaning up any bottles… The scene was not consistent with anyone trying to clean something up."
Chernoff said Murray did not immediately call 911 because there was no house phone in the room where Jackson was and he could not leave his patient to make the call.
Murray stands accused of administering the lethal dose of a powerful sedative that killed the pop superstar. He pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in February.
Chernoff said his client isn't responsible for the star's death, and that police rushed to blame someone.
"Let's say that this extremely famous, worldwide personality like Michael Jackson was found dead under unusual circumstances such as this. And the police came out and said, 'We've investigated and we just, we can't really put the blame on anybody at this point.' What do you think would happen then?" Chernoff said. "I think there was a tremendous amount of pressure to find somebody to blame. I think that was Dr. Murray… I think, my personal opinion, a conclusion was made and the investigation was conducted in order to back it up."
When asked about Chernoff's claim that police bowed to public pressure and blamed Conrad the Los Angeles Police Department told ABC News its investigation is continuing.
Murray appeared in court Monday for a preliminary hearing in which a California judge could have stripped him of his license to practice medicine, but did not.
"Well I mean the doctor had a good day," Chernoff said. "I think that was stressing him out more than anything else, was his ability to keep going, taking care of patients..."
Murray told investigators he gave Jackson the drugs Propofol, Lidocaine, Ativan and Versed during the early hours of June 25, 2009, according to an unsealed affidavit.
He also told detectives that he left the room after he gave Jackson a final dose of Propofol, before he returned to the room to find that Jackson had stopped breathing, according to the affidavit. Jackson was pronounced dead later that day at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Chernoff did not offer an alternative chain of events, but said such a scenario doesn't equate to responsibility.
"If the prosecution's theory is that Dr. Murray injected a bunch of drugs into Michael Jackson, walked out of the room and he died as a result, that's absolutely false," he said. "Dr. Murray is not guilty of causing the death of Michael Jackson. Period."
Chernoff: Dr. Murray Is Not the Underdog
Chernoff said Murray could not have been aware of everything Jackson was doing on his own over the months he was treating the star.
"Dr. Murray is just now learning what he was -- what he may have been doing," Chernoff said. "Dr. Murray cannot tell you what Michael Jackson was doing in the background. I reckon he had plenty of time to do things."
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Michael Jackson's sister, Janet Jackson, placed blame for her brother's death squarely on Conrad's shoulders.
"He was the one that was administrating," Janet Jackson said in November. "I think he is responsible."
After saying Murray's financial troubles could impact his case as far as the use of expert witnesses and specialists and citing the deluge of negative publicity his client's received, Chernoff said he still does not feel like the underdog in the case.
"We walk into the courtroom and people are yelling, calling him a murderer. They don't know anything about the facts," Chernoff said. "If we get a fair jury -- people in there who are not preconditioned, who do not have a preconceived notion about guilt, and Dr. Murray will walk out. Because he's not guilty."
A manslaughter conviction in California caries a potential sentence of two to four years in prison.
ABC News' Zunaira Zaki contributed to this report.
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