More witnesses recall Murray veiling meds

LOS ANGELES -- Prosecutors called a third witness Thursday who described frantic efforts by the doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death to gather medication from the floor of the bedroom where the singer died after receiving intravenous doses of an anesthetic.

Paramedic Martin Blount testified at a preliminary hearing that Dr. Conrad Murray scooped up three vials of the painkiller lidocaine moments after the doctor said he hadn't given the superstar any medications.

In addition, Blount and Richard Senneff, another paramedic, said Murray never mentioned giving Jackson the anesthetic propofol and told them the singer lost consciousness moments before 911 was called. Both witnesses thought the singer was dead by the time they arrived at his mansion on June 25, 2009.

Authorities contend Murray gave Jackson a lethal dose of propofol and other sedatives then tried to conceal his actions by hiding the medications and not telling paramedics and emergency room doctors about the drugs.

A judge will decide after the hearing whether there is enough evidence for Murray to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty.

Bodyguard Alberto Alvarez testified earlier that Murray told him to place several vials of medicine and an IV bag into other bags before calling 911.

The three witnesses were the first people to encounter Murray and Jackson in the bedroom.

"I saw three small bottles of lidocaine," Blount testified. "He scooped them off the floor and put them into a black bag."

Murray also produced a hypodermic needle and wanted to use it on the singer, but Blount and other paramedics refused, according to the testimony.

A defense attorney did not question Blount about the lidocaine vials.

Prosecutors introduced Murray's cell phone records as evidence, showing the 911 call summoning paramedics was made at 12:21 p.m. Murray made a phone call in the ambulance as Jackson's body was being transported to UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center. That two-minute call was to Murray's girlfriend, Nicole Alvarez, who might testify today.

Emergency room Dr. Richelle Cooper testified she never was told that Jackson had been given propofol and other sedatives. Murray said only the sedative lorazepam had been given, Cooper said.

Murray's defense attorney, J. Michael Flanagan, asked Cooper whether propofol use would be relevant information, because the drug wears off quickly.

Cooper said it might have changed her actions because of concerns about its possible interaction with other drugs in Jackson's system.

Murray was present in the emergency room when Cooper and others tried to revive the pop singer for more than an hour. Notes indicated someone reported a faint pulse in Jackson's leg, but Cooper said she could not confirm it.