Emergency room doctor Richelle Cooper testified at court that the King of Pop had died an hour before his body arrived at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
- January 8, 2011
AceShowbiz - Michael Jackson was dead an hour before his body arrived at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in June, 2009, according to testimony from emergency room doctor Richelle Cooper. The doctor took the stand at an ongoing preliminary hearing which will dictate whether or not Jackson's physician Dr. Conrad Murray will stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges relating to the King of Pop's death.
Cooper revealed she gave paramedics who raced to the singer's rented Holmby Hills, Los Angeles home the authorization to pronounce the "Thriller" singer dead. However, Murray - who found the star's lifeless body in his bedroom - insisted they try to resuscitate the King of Pop for almost an hour. Cooper told the court on Thursday, January 6 she authorized paramedics to pronounce Jackson dead at 12.57 P.M. on 25 June, 2009, but they declined at Murray's request - and because of the singer's celebrity.
Cooper officially pronounced Jackson dead at 2.26 P.M. after the singer's body arrived at the hospital. Murray's girlfriend Nicole Alvarez, who the doctor called from the ambulance to UCLA, has been ordered to appear in court on Friday, January 7. The preliminary hearing began on Tuesday, January 4 and is expected to last two weeks.
