Michael Jackson Doctor To Be Sentenced Today

Conrad Murray faces four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
By Gil Kaufman

Dr. Conrad Murray
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Former Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray will learn his fate Tuesday morning (November 29) in a Los Angeles courtroom. The cardiologist, who was found guilty of one felony count of involuntary manslaughter November 7, is facing up to four years in state prison in the death of the pop icon.

Though the jury reached a unanimous verdict in the case, due to recent changes in California law aimed at lessening prison overcrowding, experts told MTV News that it's unlikely Murray will spend much, if any, time behind federal bars.

At the time of the verdict, Los Angeles-based criminal defense attorney Mike Cavalluzzi told MTV News it was too early to predict what kind of time Dr. Murray might do, calling the decision one of the toughest ones facing Judge Michael Pastor in the wake of the six-week trial.

"[Pastor] will have to seriously consider all of the mitigating factors which would lean toward Dr. Murray not doing any jail time and all of the aggravating factors that would lead toward him going to state prison," said Cavalluzzi, who was not involved in the case but has represented a number of clients facing felony charges. "It seems to me, at first blush, that any jail time wouldn't be appropriate in this case given the fact that Dr. Murray has no criminal record and there truly was no malice, no intent to actually harm Michael Jackson at all. What he was really doing was succumbing to the wishes of a patient, and unfortunately, that patient was not a person whose wishes should have been succumbed to."

After Murray was found guilty and swiftly sent to jail with no bail, his attorneys said they were planning to appeal the verdict. They will wait until after sentencing to do so, but either way, Murray will face the loss of his medical license in California. One of Murray's defense attorneys, Nareg Gourjian, said at the time that the doctor's team plans to ask for probation but expects his client to spend just "a little bit" of time in county jail.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1675011/conrad-murray-sentencing-today.jhtml

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Obama Says U.S. 'Stands Ready to Do Our Part' for Eurozone Crisis (ABC News)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/167447414?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Union Leader rejects Romneyism (Politico)

By endorsing Newt Gingrich for president, the New Hampshire Union Leader opted to reject local front-runner Mitt Romney in favor of the latest ? and maybe last ? anti-Romney conservative.

Just as striking is how firmly the paper rejected Romney?s framing of the Republican primary and the 2012 general election.

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In his front-page editorial Sunday, publisher Joe McQuaid did not mention the words ?jobs,? ?economy,? ?employment? or ?growth? ? the core vocabulary of Romney?s campaign. Instead, he focused on the more subjective qualities of leadership and character, explaining that the Union Leader wanted a candidate with ?courage and conviction? who is ?independent-minded [and] grounded in their core beliefs.?

Drew Cline, the Union Leader?s editorial page editor, expanded on that point in a CNN appearance, dismissing Romney as a ?play-it-safe? candidate? more suited for the presidency in the ?late 19th century.? What the country needs now, Cline said, is a ?candidate [who] is bold in his leadership ? [who] has a vision for where he wants to take us as a country and knows how to get there.?

Romney has sought the GOP nomination with the basic assumption that both Republican primary voters and the country in general will end up rallying behind the candidate who is most credible on the issue of job creation. If Romney is right, Newt Gingrich should not be a particularly frightening opponent: Gingrich can?t match Romney for private-sector experience, and he has only an attenuated claim to creating jobs as speaker of the House. When it comes to jobs and the economy, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman and maybe even Herman Cain all have a better and more straightforward story to tell than Gingrich.

But that?s not the rubric the Union Leader used for its endorsement. To the extent that the paper is in touch with the spirit of the GOP primary electorate, its focus on abstract personal qualities over tangible economic accomplishments could be a worrisome sign for Romney.

In fairness to Romney, it remains to be seen just how in touch with GOP primary voters the Union Leader is. The paper has only endorsed two candidates ? Ronald Reagan and John McCain ? who went on to win the Republican presidential nomination. Skeptics of the value of the Gingrich endorsement have already pointed out that the Union Leader also endorsed Pete DuPont in 1988 and Steve Forbes in 2000, a jab Cline pushed back on via Twitter.

What?s more, much as Gingrich doesn?t have much of a jobs record to run on, he?s also an imperfect messenger when it comes to character. Republican primary voters may see him differently as a potential president the more they hear about his personal life and his web of Washington business interests. But for now, as long as Gingrich can set up the primary race as a choice of strength versus weakness, boldness versus timidity, confrontation versus compromise, that will play to his advantage far more than Romney?s.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1111_69158_html/43727657/SIG=11mjmn00l/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/69158.html

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Iraqi police: Bombs kill 7 near Baghdad (AP)

BAGHDAD, ? Iraqi officials say seven people have been killed in two blasts in central Iraq.

Police officials said two bombs were planted early Saturday in a spot where day laborers gather in the mostly Sunni village of al-Zaidan, near the town of Abu Ghraib west of Baghdad.

The officials say the bombs, which exploded minutes apart, wounded 11 other laborers.

A health official at Abu Ghraib general hospital confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to release the information.

Violence has ebbed across Iraq, but deadly bombings and shootings still occur almost daily as U.S. troops prepare to leave by the end of the year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

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