Dr. Conrad Murray

Closing arguments are underway in the Dr. Conrad Murray trial, and prosecutors are hammering home their case that the embattled physician is guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the untimely 2009 death of Michael Jackson.

The defense will get to state its case again too, but it's not looking good.

The D.A. reiterated the list of evidence he says proves Murray's guilt:

• Murray violated sacred doctor-patient trust "each and every day."
• MJ was on his game June 24 in rehearsal, then dead June 25.
• MJ was a creative genius striving for perfection, a living legend.
• MJ had long term plans cut short for himself and his children.
• He wanted to go on tour one last time for his kids and his fans.
• Murray's failure to do his job caused the death of Michael Jackson.
• Criminal negligence is not about having an intent to cause harm.

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Just hours before closing arguments in Dr. Conrad Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial, a documentary about the embattled physician is being shopped to networks.

Murray, who faces up to four years in prison in the death of Michael Jackson, has been a part of filming the documentary since being charged earlier this year.

Dr. Murray, as we know, has decided not to take the stand at his trial, but has given long in depth interviews to the film crew ... for whatever that's worth.

"This project has been in the works since Murray's arrest," says a source. "It was originally conceived to help him get his reputation back following the case."

"However, another primary driving force of it is to generate money so that Murray can pay his lawyers and experts," the source close to Murray confided.

The N.Y. Post broke the story and says Dr. Conrad Murray is hoping the documentary will earn at least a million dollars. That may be wishful thinking.

Our source says, "Dr. Murray and his lawyers were hoping it would sell for a million, but it looks like the max a network would pay is around $250K."

If Dr. Murray is convicted, that price could go up ... or down.

Closing arguments are set to begin tomorrow morning at 9.

The Dr. Conrad Murray involuntary manslaughter trial is just about over.

The defense has rested its case - or what little it seemingly had - and is now gearing up for closing arguments, which are scheduled to begin Thursday morning.

According to reports, the defense won't be submitting any new evidence, so if they haven't needled the jury with reasonable doubt yet ... it will take a miracle.

Murray faces up to four years if convicted in the death of Michael Jackson.

After closing arguments, the jury will begin to deliberate immediately, and it seems likely they'll reach a verdict by Friday, assuming closing arguments don't drag on.

The prosecution rested its case over a week ago, and while you can't rule anything out as far as what juries will conclude, their case felt awfully close to air tight.

The D.A. hammered him over his medical decision making, and put a pretty strong damper on the notion that Michael Jackson killed himself, as Murray claims.

Murray's star witness was also held in contempt today.

What do you think? Dr. Conrad Murray ...

Dr. Conrad Murray's defense received yet another blow Monday when his most important witness was held in contempt of court and fined $1,000.

Charged with involuntary manslaughter in the June 2009 death of Michael Jackson, Murray sought the help of Dr. Paul White, an expert in anesthesia.

White repeatedly violated court orders to by testifying about his private conversations with Murray, however, and the judge came down on him hard.

"Quite frankly, this constitutes direct contempt of court," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael E. Pastor told White, the defense team's final witness.

White told the jury he believes that Jackson took extra doses of two drugs, including the powerful anesthetic Propofol, while Murray's back was turned.

White suggested on Monday that while he thinks Michael Jackson killed himself, it wasn't a suicide attempt and MJ didn't know the "potential danger."

Monday marked the second time Pastor held White in contempt – the first was October 21, when White called a member of the prosecution a vulgarity.

Yesterday's sanction was ordered after an intense exchange between White and D.A. David Walgren, who grilled him about Murray's medical decisions.

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Dr. Conrad Murray will no longer be taking the stand to testify in his own defense in the involuntary manslaughter trial stemming from Michael Jackson's 2009 death.

This marks a reversal of his original plan to testify.

Murray told his lawyers from day one that he wants to testify and tell his side of the story, but his lead attorney, Ed Chernoff, believes it's not worth the risk.

His reasoning is simple: Murray wouldn't be able to withstand a tough cross examination that the DA would subject him to, and would hurt his own cause.

"Clients always want to testify, but in this case, the D.A. would wear him down, and Murray just wouldn't be able to overcome the basic facts," says a source.

To name a few: "not calling 911 right away, failure to tell ER doctors and EMTs that he gave Jackson Propofol, not having the proper monitoring equipment."

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The late Michael Jackson likely helped himself to extra doses of potent drugs while Dr. Conrad Murray's back was turned and accidentally took his own life.

That's according to the defense's final witness, who finally came out and said, under oath, the theory that Murray's defense has been floating for months.

Murray's lawyers long have asserted that Jackson caused his own death, even as the likelihood of such an event has been discredited by the prosecution.

Still, White told the jury, in Jackson's last minutes of consciousness, the insomniac took several pills of the sedative lorezepan, then injected the Propofol.

"You think it was a self-injection of propofol between 11:30 and 12?'' defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan asked. "In my opinion, yes," White responded.

White, like the prosecution's star witness, Dr. Steven Shafer, is an anesthesiologist and Propofol expert. The prosecution will cross-examine him next week.

After that, it's up to the jury to determine if there is reasonable doubt to acquit Murray of involuntary manslaughter, or if the prosecution made its case.

It goes without saying that Jackson's family feels they have.

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Anesthesiologist and Propofol expert Dr. Paul White, a witness called by Dr. Conrad Murray's defense team, isn't doing the defendant a lot of favors this week.

Having somewhat altered his original claim that Michael Jackson could have died from ingesting Propofol, he may have erased any lingering reasonable doubt.

White's initial theory was that swallowing Propofol could've been fatal for Michael Jackson, whose death Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter for.

Now, though, he's singing a different tune.

He claims he included that theory in a prior report for the defense attorneys, but that was just a plausible suggestion, not a foregone conclusion as to how MJ died.

Yes, he says it's still possible, but the backtracking can't help Murray ... especially after the beating he's taken by expert after expert called by the prosecution.

Also, during opening statements, the defense argued the The King of Pop may have killed himself by ingesting Propofol, but has since dropped that claim after a study revealed drinking the anesthetic would not be fatal.

White said he wouldn't expect Jackson to have died from the amount of Propofol Murray claims he gave the singer, but when asked if he could justify administering the drug and then leaving the room, he said, "absolutely not."

Bottom line: It's looking grim for the doc.

[Photo: Fame Pictures]

Michael Jackson had such bad insomnia that extreme measures were needed to help him sleep, according to his longtime physician, Dr. Allan Metzger.

He testified on Monday for the defense in Dr. Conrad Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial, and painted a picture of an often desperate patient.

He said he told Michael Jackson on April 14, 2009 that administering an IV anesthetic outside of a hospital was dangerous and he would not do it.

"He asked me about intravenous sleep medicine. He used the word 'juice,'" he said. "I don’t think he mentioned the word of a specific sleep medication."

"[Jackson] did not believe any oral medicine would be helpful."

Metzger had treated Jackson on and off for roughly two decades and had toured with him, just as Murray had planned to do before his June 2009 death.

Defense attorneys are trying to show that MJ was an out-of-control addict who killed himself via drug overdose the second Murray's back was turned.

Prosecutors says Murray was a doctor who, at the rate of $150,000 a month, gave the star whatever he wanted and engaged in many negligent practices.

They also claim  that there is no evidence that Jackson gave himself the overdose of Propofol that killed him, as Murray's defense has tried to argue.

Under cross-examination, Deputy DA David Walgren asked Metzger if there was "any amount of money" that could convince him to give MJ Propofol.

"Absolutely not," Metzger replied.

As if Dr. Conrad Murray's defense team didn't have its work cut out for it already, the legal ensemble is starting to fracture amid reports of persistent infighting.

Ed Chernoff, Dr. Murray's lead attorney, is from Houston and had been staying with another member of the team, J. Michael Flanagan, to save Murray money. 

But he moved out from Flanagan's digs a week and a half ago. "Ed didn't like the way Michael was handling the prosecution witnesses," says a close source.

Murray is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson.

"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."

"Things were getting very tense, and he's moved into a hotel in Santa Monica," a source close to Dr. Conrad Murray said, after the final straw this month.

Courtroom onlookers were stunned as Chernoff decided he was going to be handling the questioning of the DA's expert medical witness, Dr. Steven Shafer.

"Flanagan had prepared for approximately four months to cross examine Dr. Shafer," the insider said. "Michael was thoroughly prepared and ready."

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Dr. Conrad Murray is praying for the prosecution.

Why? The doc didn't really get into that. But he is!

Murray, who has taken a pounding in court these last few weeks, made the surprising statement last night, leaving a restaurant in Santa Monica.

"I would like to pray for the prosecutor, his associates, and his expert witness," the late Michael Jackson's former physician told a photographer.

Murray did not indicate whether it's because he prays for everyone, because that's just the kind of guy he is, or due to recent events in his trial.

Maybe Murray means he's praying because he believes the trio are portraying him unfairly before the jury in his involuntary manslaughter case.

Either way, dude is praying. Watch after the jump:

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