Jackson could have been saved, doctor's trial told

Cardiologist Alon Steinberg blasted Conrad Murray, on trial over Jackson's 2009 death from an overdose of propofol, saying the doctor should simply have called 911 as soon as he saw the star had stopped breathing.

"It's basic knowledge in America, you don't have to be a health care professional, that when someone is down you need to call 911 for help," Steinberg told jurors in gripping testimony.

Murray says he left Jackson for two minutes to go to the bathroom on June 25, 2009, and returned to find him apparently lifeless.

"When you monitor a patient, you never leave their side, especially after giving propofol. It's like leaving a baby that's sleeping on your kitchen countertop," said Steinberg.

Murray is accused of giving Jackson an overdose of propofol while trying to help him sleep. His lawyers have claimed Jackson was a desperate addict who gave himself a fatal extra dose while Murray was out of the room.

But on Wednesday, in a surprise move before the jury came into court, one of Murray's lawyers announced they were dropping the claim that Jackson could have drunk a killer overdose.

"We are no longer contending that propofol was orally ingested in this case," said Michael Flanagan, a member of Murray's legal team fighting to clear the medic of an involuntary manslaughter charge.

"We are not going to assert at any point in time in this trial that Michael Jackson orally ingested propofol."

The 58-year-old doctor has admitted to giving Jackson 25 milligrams of propofol around 10:40 am on the day he died, after the star had been awake all night, despite being given a series of doses of other less powerful sedatives.

The theory that Jackson could have drunk more propofol, which the star referred to as "milk," while Murray was out of the room has been countered by evidence that no propofol was found in his stomach.

But it is unclear whether Murray's lawyers have completely abandoned the theory that Jackson self-administerd the propofol -- in theory he could have done so via an intravenous tube in his leg.