Agreement reached on custody of Jackson kids

[evanovitch]

By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 2 hours, 14 minutes ago
Michael Jackson’s mother will get custody of his three children, and the biological mother of the two oldest children will get visitation rights but no additional money, NBC News learned Thursday.

As reported by NBC News’ Jeff Rossen, the children — Prince Michael, Paris Michael and Prince Michael II, nicknamed Blanket — will live with Jackson’s 79-year-old mother, Katherine. Debbie Rowe will have visitation rights as the biological mother of the two oldest children (the identity of Blanket’s surrogate mother has never been revealed). Attorney L. Londell McMillan said in an interview with The Associated Press that details of an agreement between Katherine Jackson and Rowe would come sometime Thursday.

“Sources say it was Debbie Rowe who decided the kids are better off staying with Katherine and the Jackson family,” Rossen reported. “Both sides will submit this deal to a judge on Monday morning for approval.”

Rossen also reported that Prince and Paris have been told that Rowe is their biological mother. Her initial visits with them will be attended by a child psychologist, Rossen reported.

Under the agreement, according to sources, Rowe will not get any additional money beyond what she got in her initial agreement with Michael Jackson when she agreed to give up parental rights. Rowe does get to keep her parental rights under the new agreement, Rossen reported.

‘Thoughtful and prudent’
The agreement had been predicted by Katherine Jackson’s attorney during a TODAY appearance on Monday.

“Whatever the agreement will be [it] will not be based on money,” attorney McMillan had told TODAY’s Matt Lauer Monday. Asked if an agreement could be reached before a scheduled Monday, Aug. 3, court hearing, Katherine Jackson’s legal representative replied with one word: “Absolutely.”

Rossen reported that the agreement is expected to be approved at Monday’s court date.

McMillan had praised all parties involved in the custody discussions, refuting media speculation that there was a tumultuous battle going on behind the scenes.

“We’ve kind of gotten together, and we’ve been thoughtful and prudent and we’re working on an agreement that’s going to be not just what’s best for Debbie Rowe or Mrs. Jackson, but what’s best for the two children that Debbie Rowe had.”

[evanovitch]

MJ an him aliases revealed...a nuff medicine fi real

(CBS/ AP) Prescription drugs prescribed or sold to Michael Jackson were obtained with the use of as many as 19 aliases, the attorney for Jackson's doctor says.

Edward Chernoff, who represents Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor who was with Jackson hours before his death and the subject of a federal probe, issued a statement Tuesday saying the sealed search warrant "authorized investigators to look for medical records relating to Michael Jackson and all of his reported aliases."

According to the Los Angeles Times,<span style="font-weight: bold"> the aliases used were: Omar Arnold, Paul Farance, Bryan Singleton, Jack London, Michael Amir Williams Muhammad, Jimmy Nicholas, Blanca Nicholas, Roselyn Muhammad, Faheem Muhammad, Frank Tyson, Fernand Diaz, Peter Madonie, Josephine Baker and Kai Chase. <span style="font-style: italic">Prince Jackson, Jackson's 12-year-old son, was also listed in the warrant.</span> </span>

Harvey Levin, executive producer of the celebrity Web site TMZ.com, told &quot;Early Show&quot; co-anchor Harry Smith Wednesday that TMZ has records showing Jackson used aliases as far back as 1993. &quot;He used employees of the Neverland Ranch, he used fictitious people,&quot; Levin said. &quot;He used the name Josephine Baker, even.

&quot;<span style="font-weight: bold">But this has been going on, not just with Drr. Murray, but literally dozens of other doctors</span>. ... <span style="font-style: italic">The LAPD and the coroner's office have quietly been going to other doctors. Subpoenas have been served. This is going to open up a massive investigation into what authorities believe could be gross fraudulent prescribing practices. There are a lot of people who are very nervous in Beverly Hills and west L.A. right now.&quot; </span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">Murray is &quot;absolutely&quot; just the tip of that iceberg, Levin said.</span>

Federal agents searched Conrad's home and office as the investigation into Jackson's death widens over whether administering a powerful anesthetic as a sleep aid was so reckless that it constitutes manslaughter.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Such charges against a doctor for the death of a patient are extremely rare.</span> Authorities would have to show there was a reckless action that created a risk of death.

After a three hour-search of Murray's sprawling home near the 18th hole of a golf course in a private gated community, Los Angeles police and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents carried away five or six plastic storage containers and several thick manila envelopes. Across town authorities searched Murray's medical offices, Global Cardiovascular Associates Inc., for nine hours seeking documents. Investigators removed several boxes but declined to describe what they had seized.

Murray was present during the search of his home and assisted the officers, who seized cell phones and a computer hard drive, Chernoff said.

<span style="font-style: italic">Though authorities characterize Murray as the target of the investigation, they have stopped short of labeling him a suspect. </span>

Murray told investigators he administered the anesthetic propofol to Jackson the night he died to help him sleep, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. The official told AP that Murray left the bedroom where Jackson was sedated and returned to find the star not breathing. It's unclear how long Murray was out of the room.

The official said investigators are working under the theory that propofol caused Jackson's heart to stop. Toxicology reports that should show what killed Jackson are expected as early as this week.

Propofol typically is used to render patients unconscious for surgery. The drug can depress breathing and lower heart rates and blood pressure.

Home use of propofol is virtually unheard of, and if Murray left Jackson's side he would have violated guidelines for the safe use of the drug drawn up by the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Those rules say a physician &quot;should be physically present throughout the sedation and remain immediately available until the patient is medically discharged from the post procedure recovery area.&quot;

In considering a manslaughter charge against a doctor, a patient's complicity in taking the risk could reduce the doctor's culpability, said Harland Braun, a prominent Los Angeles defense attorney who has represented doctors in cases involving administering of drugs.

If a doctor is aware of the risk, there might also be an issue of whether the patient knows that risk and decided to take it.

Chernoff has said the doctor &quot;didn't prescribe or administer anything that should have killed Michael Jackson.&quot; He declined interview requests Tuesday.

The search of Murray's home and business involved members of the DEA's Los Angeles Tactical Diversion Squad, agency spokesman Jose Martinez said. The team typically looks into cases involving legally prescribed drugs such as narcotic painkillers that are illegally sold or obtained by people not authorized to have them, such as &quot;doctor shoppers&quot; who get medications from several physicians so they can sell the drugs or feed their addiction.

Lt. Greg Strenk of the Los Angeles police robbery and homicide division said outside the medical office that the searches had been completed in Las Vegas but the investigation was ongoing.

The Las Vegas searches were the second time in less than a week that investigators targeted Murray's property. Last week authorities searched his Houston clinic and a storage unit. Court records show they were seeking evidence of whether the doctor committed manslaughter.

Murray, 56, who is licensed in California, Nevada and Texas, became Jackson's personal physician in May and was to accompany him to London for a series of concerts starting in July.

He was staying with Jackson in the entertainer's rented Los Angeles mansion and, according to Chernoff, &quot;happened to find&quot; Jackson unconscious in his bedroom the morning of June 25. Murray tried to revive him by compressing his chest with one hand while supporting Jackson's back with the other.

It took up to a half hour before paramedics were called, Murray's lawyers have said. The paramedics arrived about three minutes later and tried to revive the pop star for another 42 minutes before taking him to nearby UCLA Medical Center, where Jackson was pronounced dead.

Jackson is believed to have been using propofol for about two years and investigators are trying to determine how many other doctors administered it. Murray told investigators he had given Jackson the drug several times before, the law enforcement official told AP.

As investigators try to untangle Jackson's complex medical history they have interviewed at least six doctors who treated him and searched records for transactions involving aliases Jackson may have used to get drugs.

The official said Murray directed investigators to a closet in the room where Jackson slept. In it, they found enough propofol and sedatives to fill two gym bags. The room also contained an IV line and three tanks of oxygen, which would be needed for administration of propofol.

[Blackstar*]

Re: MJ an him aliases revealed...a nuff medicine fi real

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: evanovitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">In considering a manslaughter charge against a doctor, a patient's complicity in taking the risk could reduce the doctor's culpability, said Harland Braun, a prominent Los Angeles defense attorney who has represented doctors in cases involving administering of drugs.</span> </div></div>
I think this is scandalous; doctors are highly-trained professionals who should know better.