The prosecution's star medical expert acknowledged Friday afternoon that Michael Jackson may have given himself a lethal dose of propofol, but said it didn't change his opinion that the singer's personal physician was culpable in the death.
Dr. Steven Shafer, an anesthesiologist and professor at Columbia University, made the statement in his fourth day on the witness stand in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray and in the final minutes of direct examination by a prosecutor.
Asked if it was possible that Jackson had caused his own death by removing a clamp on an intravenous line of propofol, he replied, "That's a possibility."
FULL COVERAGE: The Conrad Murray trial
Drug levels in Jackson's body showed a massive dose of the drug dripped into his veins, Shafer said, but there was no way to determine whether the doctor or patient was responsible for starting the flow.
Murray's lawyers have said Jackson awakened when the physician was out of the room and gave himself the drug. Shafer said this scenario was "in no way exculpatory" because it required Murray to set up the drug and then leave his patient alone and with access to a potentially dangerous drug.
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