Los Angeles (CNN) -- The emergency room doctor who declared Michael Jackson dead testified Monday in the involuntary manslaughter trial of Dr. Conrad Murray that there was no way doctors could have revived the pop icon after he arrived at the hospital.
Dr. Richelle Cooper testified Friday that Murray never told her that he had given Jackson the surgical anesthetic propofol before he stopped breathing, but she said Monday it would not have made a difference if he had because Jackson "had died long before."




"It is unlikely with that information that I would have been able to do something different that would have changed the outcome," Cooper said.

Prosecutors argue that Murray's failure to tell paramedics and doctors trying to resuscitate Jackson about the propofol is one of the negligent acts that make him criminally responsible for Jackson's death.



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Legal analysis of Murray case Another doctor testified Monday that the decision to place an aortic balloon pump in Jackson's heart was "a desperate attempt, even though very much futile" effort intended "to prepare Dr. Murray mentally to accept the fact that Mr. Jackson could not be rescued and would allow Mr. Jackson to depart in peace and dignity."

Dr. Thao Nguyen said Murray asked that "we not to give up easily and try to save Mr. Michael Jackson's life," Nguyen said, even though it seemed hopeless.

They placed a balloon pump in Jackson's aorta in an unsuccessful effort to restart his heart, she said. "It's not a case of too little, too late, but a case of too late," Nguyen said.

Monday was the fifth day of testimony in Murray's involuntary manslaughter trial, which is expected to last at least four more weeks.

The trial resumed without Jackson's mother. Katherine Jackson left Los Angeles for Canada with her son's three children during the weekend to attend Sunday's premiere of Cirque du Soleil's "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour" in Montreal. A source close to the Jackson family said she would not return to the trial at least until October 10, since she will also travel to Cardiff, Wales, for a tribute concert for her late son.

Jackson family members in court Monday morning included siblings Janet, Rebe, Randy and Jermaine.

Prosecutors argue that Murray, who was Jackson's personal physician as he prepared for planned comeback concerts, is criminally responsible for the singer's death because of medical negligence and his reckless use of propofol to help Jackson sleep.

The coroner ruled that Jackson's June 25, 2009, death was the result of "acute propofol intoxication" in combination with sedatives.

Dr. Cooper had recommended at 12:57 p.m., when Jackson was still at his home, that paramedics stop resuscitation efforts and declare him dead. Jackson was the first patient she had ever treated in the emergency room after having made such a recommendation to paramedics in the field, she said.

"I have never given a time of death in the field and then have that patient brought to me," she said.

She said this exception was not because Jackson was a celebrity, but because the patient had a physician with them who did not want them to give up.

Prosecutors have criticized Murray, who is a cardiologist, for using propofol on Jackson, contending it should be used only by anesthesiologists who have proper monitoring equipment.



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Testimony in Murray trial

Testimony in Murray trial

How Jackson family is coping Cooper, a prosecution witness, acknowledged under questioning by defense lawyer Michael Flanagan that she uses it regularly as an emergency room doctor.

A Houston, Texas, doctor called by the prosecution Monday paid Dr. Murray a compliment Monday afternoon, saying she was "impressed" with Murray's ability to remember a patient and that patient's treatment when she called him "out of the blue."

Dr. Joanne Bednarz-Prashad's testimony was important for the prosecution because she is one of the several people who spoke to Dr. Murray on the phone the morning Jackson died. Prosecutors say he effectively abandoned Jackson by leaving his bedroom to talk on the phone that morning.

Dr. Bednarz-Prashad called Murray's cell phone to get his advice on a patient he had treated who was about to undergo surgery at a Houston hospital. Most doctors she calls in such circumstances have to call back after consulting medical charts, she said, but Murray recalled the correct information immediately.

Prosecutors also called the first of three of Murray's girlfriends to the witness stand to talk about their conversations with the doctor just before he realized Jackson had stopped breathing

The judge prevented the prosecution from digging into the personal relationship between Murray and Bridgette Morgan, who previously testified at Murray's preliminary hearing about meeting the married doctor in a Las Vegas night club in 2003.

Morgan's call to Murray came about 30 minutes before Murray apparently discovered there was a problem with his patient.

Sade Anding, a cocktail waitress who met Murray when she was working at a Houston steakhouse, is likely to be one of the first witnesses Tuesday. Anding testified in January that she was on the phone with Murray when he suddenly stopped responding to her just before noon the day Jackson died.

That is the moment prosecutors contend Murray first realized that Jackson had stopped breathing. "I didn't hear him on the phone any more," Anding said. "I heard commotion as if the phone was in a pocket and I heard coughing and I heard a mumbling of voices."

Anding said she stayed on the phone for another five minutes, listening and wondering why the man she sometimes dated wasn't responding. "Hello, hello, are you there?" she testified she said.

The timing of the phone call is key to the prosecution's time line of when Murray realized his famous patient was dying. Based on testimony so far, the moment came at 11:57 p.m.

Nicole Alvarez, the mother of Murray's youngest child, may follow them on the witness stand. Her testimony is especially important because the propofol Murray used on Jackson was shipped to her Santa Monica, California, apartment.

Alvarez, 29, who met Murray around 2005 in a Las Vegas gentlemen's club, made it clear when she previously testified that she knew little about the doctor's activities.

"Dr. Murray and I were on a need-to-know basis, and I just know my place and my position in his life," Alvarez said.

Murray called Alvarez from the ambulance as he accompanied Jackson to the hospital, according to testimony in the preliminary hearing.

Representatives from two cell phone companies testified Monday morning about records of calls to and from Murray's cell phones the morning Jackson died. The call times play a key role in determining the time line of what Murray was doing in the hours before Jackson's death.

The judge instructed lawyers not to disclose their witness list ahead of time. However, the prosecution has been following the same order of witnesses used in Murray's preliminary hearing in January.

Los Angeles Police homicide Detective Dan Myers, who led the Los Angeles Police Department investigation of Jackson's death, is likely to testify Tuesday or Wednesday.

Los Angeles County Coroner Investigator Elissa Fleak will probably testify within the next two days about searching Jackson's home after his death. She said at the preliminary hearing that she found seven pill bottles on the nightstand next to Jackson's bed and an empty bottle of propofol on the floor near his bed.

Murray's defense lawyers contend Jackson caused his own death by swallowing eight lorazepam pills and orally ingesting propofol while Murray was out of the room.

The judge imposed a gag order Friday, preventing lawyers for Murray from talking to reporters about the case. His order came after he learned Matt Alford, a law partner to lead defense lawyer Ed Chernoff, gave a television interview to NBC's Ann Curry on Friday morning.

If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Murray could spend four years in a California prison and lose his medical license.

Perugia, Italy (CNN) -- In a ruling read to a tension-filled courtroom, an Italian jury on Monday cleared Amanda Knox of murder and other charges, nearly four years after she was arrested on suspicion of having killed her roommate in this picturesque Italian university town.

There was an audible gasp in the courtroom as the verdict was read, then an eruption of emotion, prompting the judge to call for silence. Knox herself was nearly hysterical, according to CNN's Matthew Chance, and had to be assisted out of the courtroom by two people.

The jury evidently believed Knox's impassioned final statement to the court, delivered in a voice trembling with emotion.

"I am not what they say I am -- perverse, violent. ... I haven't murdered. I haven't raped. I haven't stolen," Knox said in the most important speech of her life. Her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, was also cleared of involvement in the 2007 death of Meredith Kercher, a British exchange student and Knox's roommate in Perugia.

"We're thankful that Amanda's nightmare is over," Knox's sister, Deanna, said on the courthouse steps, getting a roar of approval from the crowd. "She suffered for four years for a crime she did not commit."



Amanda Knox leaves Italian prison

Amanda Knox's family reacts to ruling

Amanda Knox: 'I was scared' Deanna Knox thanked her sister's attorneys and "people who took the time to research the case and could see that Amanda and Raffaele were innocent," for supporting the Knox family.

The same jury, however, upheld Knox's conviction on the charge of defamation against Patrick Lumumba, an early suspect in the case. She had accused club owner Lumumba of killing Kercher.

Lumumba was arrested, but released after his alibi checked out. He later sued Knox, winning 40,000 euros ($54,000) in damages. Knox was sentenced Monday to three years on the defamation charge , but received credit for the years she has already spent behind bars, said her attorney, Carlo Dalla Vedova.

"We're satisfied with the decision of the court," Dalla Vedova told CNN. "We were expecting the rectification of this mistake."

He said Knox is ready to go home, but has said she will return to Italy.

"She always confirmed she was a friend of Meredith," he said.

As the verdict was read in court, Kercher's family grew emotional.

"We respect the decision of the judges but we do not understand how the decision of the first trial could be so radically overturned," the Kerchers said in a statement, issued through a journalist close to the family, after returning to their hotel on Monday. "We still trust the Italian judicial system and hope that the truth will eventually emerge."

Some of those gathered outside were unhappy with the ruling, shouting "Shame! Shame!"

Among those outside the court were a handful of college-age Italians and Americans, including two young Italian men who told CNN they disagreed with the ruling and believe Knox and Sollecito are guilty. One of them, Frederico Finali, 18, is a student at the same university Kercher attended. Finali said he is studying international communications.

"I am very upset with Italian justice," said a woman who gave her name as Veronica and said she is a fourth-year law student in Perugia. The legal process, she said, had gone "very, very bad."

"This family needs some justice," she said of the Kerchers, "and more important, you know, the real truth of the story." She said a majority of those in Perugia "absolutely" agree with her, adding, "I'm not satisfied."

Knox and her defense team succeeded in overturning a conviction handed down two years ago by a different jury, which found her and Sollecito guilty of killing of Kercher, who was sexually assaulted and her throat slashed.

"I am innocent," Knox said Monday. "Raffaele is innocent."

Sollecito put his claim simply in his own closing statement before Knox spoke.



'Incredible' scene as Knox decision read

'Joy' in Seattle as Knox set free "I have never hurt anybody," he said.

As he concluded, he dramatically removed his plastic "Free Amanda and Raffaele" bracelet, saying: "I have never taken it off since it was given to me. ... I think now is the moment to take it off."

His voice almost inaudible, he concluded, "I hope this is part of history and that Amanda and I have a future."

Knox was expected to go back to jail to complete her release paperwork and gather her belongings before leaving for the last time. As one van pulled up outside the prison, the sound of cheering could be heard from inside. A few minutes later, a black van pulled away from the prison and was chased by photographers. Rocco Girlanda, a member of the Italian parliament who became an advocate for Knox, confirmed that Knox was inside.

"Amanda was incredibly happy," Girlanda said, adding that Knox will leave Tuesday for Seattle, her hometown. She was greeted at the prison by cheers and shouts of "well done," prompting her to jump for joy, he said. Knox was headed to meet her parents nearby after leaving the prison, he said. "Her first desire is to lie down on a green field."

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, "The United States appreciates the careful consideration of this matter within the Italian judicial system." The U.S. Embassy in Rome will continue to provide consular assistance to Knox and her family, she said.

Sollecito's father, Francesco, told CNN in a brief conversation the family was driving towards home. "We are now starting to talk," he said. "I can't say more. Raffaele is very spaced out."

Knox's lawyer Luciano Ghirga reminded the jury Monday that they had to be convinced "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Knox and Sollecito were guilty if they were to uphold the conviction.

At least four members of the jury -- composed of six members of the public and two judges -- must have concluded they did, indeed, have doubts about her conviction.

A majority ruling was all that was needed to throw out the conviction, with a tie favoring the defense. The actual vote will remain secret, but the main judge, Claudio Pratillo Hellman, will file a statement explaining the jury's reasoning within 90 days of the ruling.

Knox and Sollecito were convicted of murder, sexual assault and related crimes related to Kercher's death in December 2009. A third man, drifter Rudy Guede, was convicted separately of involvement in the killing and is serving 16 years.

In the appeal, lawyers for Knox and Sollecito picked apart DNA evidence that played a role in the original conviction.

Part of the original prosecution case was based on DNA evidence found on a knife and on a bra clasp belonging to Kercher.

During the appeal, experts for the two sides battled over whether the DNA evidence was reliable.

They also fought over the character of Knox.

The lawyer for a man falsely accused of the crime called Knox "Lucifer-like, demonic, Satanic," while Sollecito defense counsel Giulia Bongiorno insisted that, like the buxom cartoon temptress Jessica Rabbit in the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" Knox is not bad, just "drawn that way."

Knox herself acknowledged the debate Monday in her closing statement.

"People always ask 'who is Amanda Knox?'" she said. "I am the same person I was four years ago. ... The only thing that now separates me from four years ago is my suffering.

"In four years, I've lost my friends in the most terrible and unexplainable way. My trust in the authorities and the police has been damaged. I had to face charges that were totally unfair, without any basis. And I am paying with my life for something I haven't done."

Knox was 20 and Kercher was 21 years old, studying at Perugia's university for foreign students, when Kercher's semi-naked body was found in the house they shared.

Sollecito, 23 at the time, was Knox's boyfriend, studying computer science at another university in Perugia.

Either side can appeal this court's ruling to Italy's High Court, but such an appeal would be on narrow technical grounds only.

At least 36 people have been killed after unidentified gunmen opened fire at a crowded bar near the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, officials say.

A local hospital is reportedly unable to cope with the wounded, while dead bodies have been left in a car park.

"I heard someone some distance away shout: 'Kill them all,' and they opened fire," one survivor told the BBC.

Burundi's last rebel group officially laid down its arms in 2009 but sporadic attacks have continued.

The BBC's Prime Ndikumagenge in Bujumbura says it is the most deadly attack since last year's disputed poll.

Former rebel leader Agathon Rwasa withdrew from the presidential election and fled the country after his National Liberation Forces (FNL) accused the governing party of fraud.

The government has blamed recent attacks on bandits but our correspondent says some fear a new rebel group has emerged.

There are some reports that the attackers crossed into Gatumba from just across the border in Democratic Republic of Congo.
Presidential trip cancelled


"They really took their time. Two bullets went through my body and another two are still inside. My legs sustained grenade injuries. All I can ask for is peace. I don't know why I should be a victim," he said

A doctor who only gave his name as Leonard told the AFP news agency the hospital where he worked was "totally overwhelmed" by the number of wounded.

"We are lacking blood, equipment and medicine to treat all the injured," he said.

AFP reports that dead bodies had been left in a car park at one hospital.

President Pierre Nkurunziza visited the scene and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.

He said he was cancelling this week's trip to New York, for the UN General Assembly.

Some 300,000 people are said to have been killed in Burundi's 12-year civil war between the minority Tutsi-dominated army and ethnic Hutu rebels.

The conflict officially ended in 2005 with a peace deal which saw former rebel leader Mr Nkurunziza elected president but FNL rebels continued fighting.