Sleep Expert Called To Testify

An alternate juror in Katherine Jackson’s wrongful death case against AEG Live has been dismissed from the panel because of financial hardship.

The man, alternate juror No. 6, had told Judge Yvette Palazuelos that he was moving to Atlanta, where he had bought a house. He said he would be paying rent in Southern California and house payments in Georgia starting next month. He told the judge he had thought the trial would be finished by mid-July, which does not appear to be the case.

“He has moved,” Palazuelos told the remaining jurors Thursday morning, which marked the 33rd day of the trial. “Along with moving came some financial hardships.”

Besides the 12 seated jurors, five alternates remain.

HarvardUniversity sleep expert Dr. Charles Czeisler testified on Katherine’s behalf.

Dr,Czeisler has worked with athletes, night-shift workers, the Rolling Stones, Shaq O’Neal, US government agencies and astronauts.

He went over a lot of the basics of sleep in the morning session. The doctor said our internal clock regulates the timing we are awake and asleep. Dr. Czeisler began studying the internal clock in the brain that controls our sleep while in undergraduate school.

He proceeded to give a great deal of information about sleep patterns and reasons for changes in a sleep routine.

Withdrawal of Demerol is a secondary type of insomnia. “It can increase insomnia,” Dr. Czeisler explained.

He also testified about Propofol anesthesia saying; “It is a drug-induced coma. It doesn’t fulfill sleep needs, produces profound unresponsiveness, no consciousness. The patient cannot be awakened until it leaves the system. There’s no FDA approved reversal to Propofol, you need to metabolize it in order to wake up,” Dr. Czeisler explained. “They feel like they had a great night, but they haven’t had any sleep at all,” the expert said.

Judge adjourned session until tomorrow 9:15 am PT. Dr. Czeisler resumes testifying tomorrow. Karen Faye won’t return until next Friday.

Source: ABC7 & MJWN