Girlfriend of Jackson's Physician to Testify
Thursday, Sep 8, 2011 | Updated 12:47 PM PST
AP
Dr. Conrad Murray
A woman linked to Michael Jackson's personal physician will testify before a grand jury.
Attorney Joseph Low IV said Nicole Alvarez received a subpoena to appear Wednesday morning. Newspaper reports have called her Dr. Conrad Murray's girlfriend and said the pair have an infant son together.
Alvarez's apartment was searched last month.
Murray is the target of an investigation into Jackson's June 25 death, which has been classified a homicide. He told police he gave the pop superstar the powerful anesthetic propofol and other drugs in the hours before Jackson's death.
Murray's attorney has said the doctor didn't give Jackson anything that "should have" killed him.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office would prosecute the case against Murray if one is filed.
Sources told The Los Times that Alvarez, a 27-year-old actress, has not been cooperating with detectives.
A grand jury subpoena is an effective way to force reluctant witnesses to testify, said Stan Goldman, a professor of criminal procedure at Loyola Law School Los Angeles.
"They can be held in contempt just like refusing in court," Goldman said.
He said it's hard to tell what Alvarez's testimony to grand jurors might mean for Murray.
It's possible authorities "don't have such a strong case that they want to do without this woman," Goldman said. ``They'd rather have her.
On the other hand, it's not good, because they're still interested it seems."
The Los Angeles County coroner's office determined that Jackson died from "acute propofol intoxication" combined with sedatives, and labeled his death a homicide.
