MTVNEWS Reports
The search warrants that were used to comb the home and offices of Dr. Conrad Murray in Las Vegas on Tuesday suggest that police believe Michael Jackson was a drug addict. According to The Associated Press, the warrants, released on Thursday, refer to the late pop star as an "addict," and were seeking evidence of the prescribing of the powerful anesthetic Propofol and of the misdemeanor of "excessive prescribing."
When officers from the Los Angeles and Las Vegas Police Departments and the Drug Enforcement Administration searched Murray's Las Vegas home and offices they were doing so with warrants that were issued because there was probable cause to believe they would uncover evidence of excessive prescribing, prescribing to an addict, excessive treatment or prescribing, unprofessional conduct, prescribing to or treating an addict and manslaughter. Since his death, reports have surfaced that Jackson allegedly suffered from a long-term addiction to pain medication, possibly as a result of injuries sustained during a failed pyrotechnic stunt on the set of a 1984 Pepsi commercial.
A variety of sources have confirmed that Murray is the focus of a manslaughter investigation into the June 25 death of Jackson. The cardiologist had been hired at the cost of $150,000 a month to be Jackson's personal physician in the lead-up to the launch of the singer's attempted 50-show comeback residency at the O2 Arena in London.
The AP reported that there are California state codes for doctors that cover prescribing — including ones prohibiting the prescription of drugs to anyone with a chemical dependency or anyone who is using drugs for a non-therapeutic purpose — and violations could lead to a revoked or suspended license.
On Monday, the AP reported that Murray gave Jackson Propofol prior to his death, and the warrants said that police had been searching on Tuesday for all documentation relating to the "purchase, transfer, receiving, ordering, delivery and storage of Propofol." Numerous bottles of Propofol (also known by the brand name Diprivan) were found in Jackson's rented Holmby Hills, California, home at the time of his death. The warrants also sought medical records related to any of the 19 aliases Jackson is alleged to have used in order to obtain prescription medications.
The Las Vegas searches resulted in the seizure of an iPhone, copies of several computer hard drives, a CD with the name Omar Arnold on it — one of the aliases Jackson reportedly used — and a binder containing invoices for medical equipment and supplies, according to the AP. No Propofol was found in the searches.
Jackson is said to have used the surgical anesthetic as a sleep aid to combat chronic insomnia. Investigators are working under the assumption that the drug caused the singer's heart to stop. The cause of death in the case has not yet been announced, and on Thursday Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said after speaking to investigators that autopsy results have been indefinitely delayed pending further investigation.
Though Murray has not been named as a suspect in the death of Jackson, reports have said that he is the central focus of the investigation. He has spoken to police twice and his lawyer has said that Murray did not prescribe anything that "should have" killed Jackson, but has not commented on whether Murray administered Propofol to Jackson.
TMZ reported on Friday (July 31) that contrary to initial reports, Jackson was not found in his bed by Murray, but spent the final night of his life in the doctor's bedroom. Citing multiple unnamed law-enforcement sources, the site claimed that Jackson did not want anyone coming in and out of his room as he was hooked up to an intravenous drip of Propofol, so he laid down in Murray's bed as the doctor allegedly administered the drug in the hours before the singer's death.
Police sources said Murray may have been using his room almost nightly to hook Jackson up to the IV drip of the drug, which is intended for use in a medical setting where heart and breathing functions can be monitored by trained professionals. Among the items emergency workers reportedly found in Murray's room on the morning of Jackson's death were an IV stand, an empty IV bag and tanks of oxygen.
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Atlanta Journal Constitution Reports
Two DeKalb County Officers are being investigated for allegedly performing a background check on President Barack Obama
Officers Ryan White and C.M. Route have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, according to DeKalb County spokeswoman Sheila Edwards.
Edwards said the two patrol officers have been with the department for about two years.
The incident occurred on July 20, according to DeKalb County officials.
The United States Secret Service notified county officials that DeKalb County computer equipment was utilized to do a query on the President.
Edwards said the background check was run using a computer mounted in a patrol car.
Such behavior, said William “Miz” Miller, DeKalb Public Safety director, is not to be tolerated.
“As Public Safety Director for DeKalb County, I want everyone to know that we take these allegations very seriously,” he said in a statement. “We expect our officers to adhere to professional standards and departmental policy. Furthermore, we do not and will not condone the inappropriate use of county equipment or resources.”
The county’s Internal Affairs division is handling the official investigation.
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Scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. (left), and Police Sgt. James Crowley talk race at the White House.
Atlanta Journal Constitution Reports
With mugs of beer and a calm conversation, President Barack Obama tried to push himself and the nation beyond a political uproar Thursday, hailing a "friendly, thoughtful" conversation with the black professor and white policeman whose dispute had ignited a fierce debate over race in America.
"I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart," the nation's first black president said after the highly anticipated meeting ended. "I am confident that has happened here tonight, and I am hopeful that all of us are able to draw this positive lesson from this episode."
Under the canopy of a magnolia tree in the early evening, Obama joined the other players in a story that had knocked the White House off stride: Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley. Vice President Joe Biden was with them on a Rose Garden patio.
"We agreed to move forward," Crowley said later when asked if anything was solved. "I think what you had today was two gentlemen agreeing to disagree on a particular issue. I don't think that we spent too much time dwelling on the past. We spent a lot of time discussing the future."
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have a beer with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., left, and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley, right, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
The issue in question began when Crowley investigated a potential burglary at Gates' house and ended up arresting the protesting professor for disorderly conduct. The matter mushroomed into a debate on racial profiling, fueled when Obama said in a prime-time news conference that the police "acted stupidly." He later expressed regret.
Gates said after Thursday's White House gathering that he hoped the entire experience would prove to be an "occasion for education, not recrimination." He said the burden now rests with him and Crowley to use the opportunity to foster wider awareness of the dangers facing police officers and the fears that some blacks have about racial profiling.
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Access Hollywood Reports
The February 2010 due movie “Valentine’s Day” already sports a superstar cast, including Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts and Patrick Dempsey — and it just got even bigger.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar winner Jamie Foxx has jumped on board the romantic comedy, being directed by Garry Marshall.
Queen Latifah and 17-year-old “Aliens in the Attic” actor Carter Jenkins also recently joined the ensemble.
The movie focuses on five Los Angeles based stories that intersect on Valentine’s Day.
Jamie is set to play a sports reporter following a story.
Queen Latifah will play an agent for “Grey’s Anatomy” star Eric Dane, who stars as a football player in the film, the trade paper reported.
Carter plays a teen hoping to lose his virginity to Emma Roberts, who is also in the film.
The movie also stars two Jessicas — Alba and Biel — as well as Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, Topher Grace, Jennifer Garner and Ashton Kutcher.
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HipHopWired Reports
Ice Cube is directing an ESPN documentary about the Los Angeles Raiders. He was just added to a lineup of 30 special-edition directors for the “30 for 30” ESPN documentary series. The project features 30 one-hour films that shine light on a topic covered by ESPN in its 30 years of programming. Ice Cube's documentary is called “Straight Outta L.A.” and connects the Raiders to himself, NWA and their influence on his hometown. How ironic that the same man that said, “Stop giving juice to the Raiders…cause Al Davis ain't never paid us” in “Wrong Nigga To Fuck Wit” is directing their documentary.
Previously announced directors for the series include Peter Berg, Reggie Rock Blythewood, John Singleton, Morgan Freeman and director of the cult classic documentary, “Hoop Dreams,” Steve James. The other stories will include Singleton's documentary on Marion Jones' fall from glory, a story on the South African rugby team and Olympic Speed Skater Johann Olav Koss.
Cube also recently made sports headlines lending his hit “Today Was A Good Day” to a Nike SB commercial. In the commercial skater Paul “P Rod” Rodriguez is shown skating through L.A. on a skateboard with Cube's song playing in the background. Cube makes a cameo at the end of the commercial running over Rodriguez's skateboard in his low-rider.
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I really didn't see this coming. I know Em has been throwing darts at Mariah for a while now. But to devote an entire song to dissing her and her husband Nick Cannon? SMFH
New York Times Reports
Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the sluggers who propelled the Boston Red Sox to end an 86-year World Series championship drought and to capture another title three years later, were among the roughly 100 Major League Baseball players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the results
Some of baseball’s most cherished storylines of the past decade have been tainted by performance-enhancing drugs, including the accomplishments of record-setting home run hitters and dominating pitchers. Now, players with Boston’s championship teams of 2004 and 2007 have also been linked to doping.
Baseball first tested for steroids in 2003, and the results from that season were supposed to remain anonymous. But for reasons that have never been made clear, the results were never destroyed and the first batch of positives has come to be known among fans and people in baseball as “the list.” The information was later seized by federal agents investigating the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes, and the test results remain the subject of litigation between the baseball players union and the government.
Five others have been tied to positive tests from that year: Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Jason Grimsley and David Segui. Bonds, baseball’s career home runs leader, was not on the original list, although federal agents seized his 2003 sample and had it retested. Those results showed the presence of steroids, according to court documents.
The information about Ramirez and Ortiz emerged through interviews with multiple lawyers and others connected to the pending litigation. The lawyers spoke anonymously because the testing information is under seal by a court order. The lawyers did not identify which drugs were detected.
Unlike Ramirez, who recently served a 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy, Ortiz had not previously been linked to performance-enhancing substances.
Scott Boras, the agent for Ramirez, would not comment Thursday.
Asked about the 2003 drug test on Thursday in Boston, Ortiz shrugged. “I’m not talking about that anymore,” he said. “I have no comment.”
The union has argued that the government illegally seized the 2003 test results, and judges at various levels of the federal court system have weighed whether the government can keep them. The government hopes to question every player on the list to determine where the drugs came from. An appeals court is deliberating the matter, and the losing side is likely to appeal to the United States Supreme Court.
A spokesman for the United States attorney’s office for the Northern District of California, which seized the tests, declined to comment on Thursday. Michael Weiner, the general counsel for the players union, also declined to comment.
One by one, the names of elite players tied to performance-enhancing drugs have surfaced this year. In February, it was Rodriguez and Bonds. In May, it was Ramirez — for the first time. In June, it was Sosa.
Rodriguez had been viewed by some as a clean player who could eventually overtake the career home run record established by Bonds, who had been linked to possible drug use through the federal investigation. Rodriguez subsequently admitted that he used a performance-enhancing substance from 2001 to 2003.
The Times reported in June that Sosa was among those who tested positive in 2003, the first time he had been publicly tied to performance-enhancing drugs. Sosa became a national figure with the Chicago Cubs in 1998, when he and Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals engaged in a celebrated race to overtake Roger Maris’s single-season home run record of 61. McGwire’s image suffered tremendously when, at a Congressional hearing in 2005, he refused to answer questions about steroid use.
By 2003, Ramirez had long since established himself as one of baseball’s best hitters. Ortiz, however, was less known. In 2002, the Minnesota Twins effectively cut him after failing to trade him. He signed a bargain contract with the Red Sox and began the 2003 season as a backup.
Ortiz quickly blossomed, setting personal highs in home runs (31) and runs batted in (101). He surpassed those numbers in each of the next four seasons.
Ramirez, with his dreadlocks and quirky behavior, and Ortiz, with his gregarious personality and portly build, formed a dynamic tandem on and off the field. They seemed to feed off each other — not to mention demoralize opponents — by hitting back-to-back in the heart of the lineup.
In 2004, they helped the Red Sox overcome a 3-0 series deficit against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. The Red Sox then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to end decades of heartbreak in Boston. Ortiz had a game-winning home run and a game-winning hit against the Yankees and was named the most valuable player of that series. Ramirez was named the World Series M.V.P. after going 7 for 17 at the plate with a home run.
Three years after winning that first title, Ramirez and Ortiz returned Boston to another World Series, where they defeated the Colorado Rockies.
The pairing was split last season when the Red Sox traded Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers after team officials grew concerned that he was not playing hard in response to a contract dispute. In Los Angeles, Ramirez took off again, becoming popular among the fans and leading the Dodgers to the playoffs.
But Ramirez’s hero status in Los Angeles took a hit in May when he was suspended after baseball officials learned that he had been prescribed a fertility drug often used by bodybuilders after they stopped using steroids. When Ramirez was suspended, he issued a statement that appeared to maneuver around his 2003 test results.
“I do want to say one other thing,” Ramirez said. “I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.”
That five-year period extended back to 2004, which excludes the 2003 test.
Since returning from his suspension, Ramirez has been widely accepted by the home fans. In 48 games this season, he has compiled a .327 average and has hit 11 home runs.
Ortiz, meanwhile, has been in a sharp decline. He had an operation on his wrist last year and missed nearly a third of the season. He started this year in a slump and did not hit his first home run until a month and a half into the season. Since June 1, however, he has hit 12 more home runs.
In 2007, Ortiz said that he used to buy a protein shake in the Dominican Republic when he was younger and did not know if it contained a performance-enhancing drug.
“I don’t do that anymore because they don’t have the approval for that here, so I know that, so I’m off buying things at the GNC back in the Dominican Republic,” Ortiz told The Boston Herald. He added: “I don’t know if I drank something in my youth, not knowing it.”
In February, he said that players who tested positive for steroids should be suspended for an entire season — about 100 games more than the current policy requires for a first offense.
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Boston police officer Justin Barrett was suspended Wednesday, July 29, 2009, for using a racial slur to describe black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
NYDailyNews Reports
The Boston cop suspended for calling Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates a "banana-eating jungle monkey" in a mass e-mail was turned in by fellow cops.
The revelation that Officer Justin Barrett's brothers in blue were also revolted by his hateful words came as the police commissioner tried to repair to reputation of Beantown's police department.
"This type of venomous rhetoric is severely damaging," Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis declared Thursday.
"We will not allow the unacceptable actions of one member to define who we are."
Davis said he has apologized to Gates on behalf of the department and they are now checking whether Barrett had any run-ins with blacks while on the job.
Barrett is also not getting any love from the local police union, which has denounced his remarks as "offensive and hurtful."
"He's gone," Boston Mayor Tom Menino said of Barrett, who has already been suspended. "G-o-n-e. I don't care, it's like cancer. You don't keep those cancers around."
Barrett, 36, a cop for two years, has also been suspended by the National Guard, where he holds the rank of captain.
Earlier, Barrett insisted he was not a racist and "did not mean to offend anyone."
"The words were being used to characterize behavior, not describe anyone," Barrett told WCVB-TV.
Barrett conceded it was a "poor choice of words."
"I didn't mean it in a racist way," he added. "I treat everyone with dignity and respect."
Barrett said he was "just venting" about the July 16 arrest of Gates by a white Cambridge cop that became a national discussion about race when President Obama said the officers acted "stupidly."
"People are making it about race," said Barrett, who vowed to fight any attempt to fire him. "It is not about race."
But it may be about whether Barrett has any sense.
Barrett got into hot water after he fired off the note to his buddies on the force, in the Guard - and, inexplicably, The Boston Globe.
In the email, Barrett called the Globe story "jungle monkey gibberish" and wrote that Gates' "first priority should be to get off the phone and comply with police."
"For if I was the officer he verbally assaulted like a ... jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC deserving of his belligerent non-compliance," Barrett wrote.
OC is pepper spray.
Barrett went on to question Gates' credentials, called him a "God damned fool," and twice challenged the paper to "ax" him what he thinks.
"I am not a racist, but I am prejudice [sic] towards people who are stupid and pretend to stand up and preach for something they claim is freedom," Barrett wrote.
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NYDailyNews Reports
Boxing star Arturo Gatti wasn't murdered - he killed himself in a Brazil seaside resort three weeks ago, authorities said Thursday.
The rough-and-tumble fighter's wife was released from jail after the ruling that Gatti, 37, committed suicide, the Associated Press reported.
Former exotic dancer Amanda Rodrigues, who discovered the body on July 11, was arrested after police theorized she had strangled the former world champion with her purse strap.
Police suggested Gatti was too drunk to defend himself when he was killed.
But Brazilian state court Judge Ildete Verissimo de Lima in the city of Recife ordered Rodrigues' immediate release after the new finding.
The 23-year-old was on a second honeymoon with Gatti and their 10-month-old baby when he was found dead inside their hotel room in Porto de Galinhas.
Gatti, born in Montreal, trained in Jersey City, N.J., and found stardom on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. He captured his first title in 1995, by defeating junior welterweight champion Tracy Harris Patterson.
Gatti's career also included a trio of brutally memorable battles against Micky Ward, along with fights against Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Merriweather.
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Fox411 Reports
Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush’s split wasn’t as amicable as they’re making it out to be.
An insider told FOXNews.com’s Pop Tarts that their relationship had been “been rocky for a little while ” because the two weren’t seeing as much of each other as they once had, with Kim’s increasing fame and their separate business commitments keeping them apart most of the time.
Now another source tells FOX411 that there was another, bigger reason behind the split: Kanye West.
“Reggie saw text messages on Kim’s phone from Kanye West and flipped out on her,” the source tells FOX411.
And these weren’t your average friendly messages.
“The texts referenced a night they hung out, how much fun he had, how hot Kim was, and more racy things that got Reggie’s imagination running,” says the source.
When Reggie confronted Kim about it, the couple had a huge blow-up, and jealousy issues, which had been pretty much kept out of their relationship until this incident ,surfaced, according to the insider.
“They realized there were trust issues on both sides, and couldn’t go forward,” says the source.
Reps for West and Kardashian did not respond to requests for comment.
At least both will be keeping busy in the coming months. Bush is starting NFL training camp with the New Orleans Saints, while Kardashian is filming new episodes of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”
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}