Nurse: Jackson said only propofol let him sleep

LOS ANGELES?? A sometimes tearful nurse testified Tuesday that her efforts to save Michael Jackson from the drug he craved for sleep were rebuffed by the star, who insisted he needed the powerful anesthetic that eventually killed him.

Cherilyn Lee, who tried to shift Jackson to holistic sleep aids in the months before he died, said the singer told her Dipravan, a brand name for propofol, was the only thing that would knock him out for the sleep he needed. He told Lee he had experienced the drug once during surgery.

Lee almost didn't testify. She sat down in the witness box then said she felt dizzy, before starting to cry.

"This is just very sensitive for me," she said.

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Lee told of coming into Jackson's life at the beginning of 2009 and leaving just before Dr. Conrad Murray arrived. Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and is accused of giving Jackson a fatal dose of the drug Lee would not give him.

Lee recalled a meeting with the superstar at his rented mansion two months before his death.

"He was sitting very close to me," she said. "He looked at me and said, 'I have a lot of difficulty sleeping. I've tried a lot of things and I need something that will make me fall asleep right away. I need Dipravan."

Lee had never heard of the drug but did research and later told Jackson it was too dangerous to use in a home.

At one point she asked: "What if you didn't wake up?"

Jackson, however, was adamant the drug would be safe if he had a doctor who could monitor him while he slept.

Prosecutors claim Murray abandoned Jackson after administering the fatal dose of propofol and failed to have proper lifesaving and monitoring equipment on hand.

Lee was called to the stand by Murray's defense, but the impact of her testimony was mixed.

While she supported a defense theory that Jackson was doctor shopping in a desperate search for someone to give him propofol, a prosecutor seized on her warning to show Murray should have known the dangers too.

Lee said her final refusal to provide the drug came on April 19, 2009, and she never saw Jackson again.

Another medical witness, Dr. Allan Metzger, testified Monday that Jackson also implored him to provide the anesthetic. Metzger also refused and instead gave the singer sleeping pills that had proven effective in the past.

Attorneys for Murray are trying to show that Jackson was a strong-willed celebrity who became the architect of his own demise. They also alleged he gave himself the fatal dose after Murray left his bedroom.

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Lee said she had treated Jackson as he prepared for his planned series of "This Is It" comeback concerts.

Lee was followed to the witness stand by Randy Phillips, president and CEO of concert promoter AEG Live.

Defense attorneys had wanted to ask Phillips about Jackson's contract to show that Jackson would have owed $40 million to the promoter if the concerts were canceled. The lawyers said Jackson would be desperate to make sure the shows continued and needed sleep to get through his rehearsals.

Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor blocked that request and said allowing testimony about the contract might confuse jurors.

"This is not a contractual dispute. This is a homicide case," Pastor said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45032681/ns/today-entertainment/

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