According to CNN, the doctor convicted in Michael
Jackson's death is suffering possibly life-threatening and permanent injuries
after almost a year in a small cell with "extremely limited access to
exercise," his lawyer said Wednesday.
Dr. Conrad Murray is housed in a high-security section
of the Los Angeles County jail because of his notoriety, which isolates him
from the general population for his protection.
"Death or injury at the hands of another
prisoner, however, is no worse than a slow death caused by a loss of
circulation and atrophy resulting from inhumane confinement of a large man in a
tiny space," attorney Michael Flanagan wrote in a letter addressed to Los
Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca Wednesday.
Murray -- jailed since November 7, 2011, when he was
convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death -- is 6 feet 5 inches
tall, but confined in a 5-feet-by-7-feet cell, Flanagan wrote.
"If one were to keep a dog in a space just a few
inches larger than the dog's length, for any extended period of time,
contentions of animal cruelty possibly leading to prosecution would likely
result," attorney Michael Flanagan wrote.
Murray was taken to a hospital Sunday night for
treatment of what his lawyer described as "marked venous stasis of his
lower extremities" and "right shoulder pain and severe loss of
motion."
Flanagan's letter suggested the sheriff has
"alternatives available to protect society and punish offenders that would
not likely result in causing permanent injury or death to an inmate."
California law allows Baca, at his discretion, to
release Murray under monitored home confinement. Otherwise, he is set to remain
in jail for another year.
Murray was sentenced to the maximum four years in
prison for the conviction, but he is eligible for parole after serving half of
his sentence. A California law intended to relieve overcrowding in state
prisons resulted in Murray being kept in the county jail.
His jail cell is so small that Murray has "no
opportunity for physical movement throughout the day," Flanagan wrote.
"The only actual exercise that Dr. Murray received occurs on most Monday
evenings when he is transferred in chains to an 8-by-8 cage on the roof of the
facility."
Murray, in a phone call to a friend Monday that was
published Wednesday by the celeb news website TMZ, complained that he feared
his illness would be permanent. "I may never be able to wear a boot
again," he said.
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