Witness: As Jackson was rushed to ER, doctor phoned girlfriend

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Michael Jackson fans from left, Karlene Taylor, Yvonne Francis, Latrenda White and Jamie Lee, speak out against AEG Live. A jury found Wednesday that AEG Live was not liable in the death of the pop superstar. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Jury foreman Gregg Barden, center, listens to a reporter’s question about their verdict in the civil trial over the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Katherine Jackson and three grandchildren against AEG Live in the death of singer Michael Jackson. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos gathers the verdict documents moments before they were publicly disclosed. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Attorneys for Katherine Jackson, Deborah Chang, left and Kevin Boyle listen as jurors are polled following the verdict in the civil trial that lasted for five months. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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AEG attorney Marvin Putnam smiles during verdict polling at the conclusion of the Katherine Jackson v. AEG Live civil trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The jury found AEG not liable in Michael Jackson’s death. AEG attorney Jessica Stebbins Bina is at left. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, left, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, speaks with Kathryn Cahan and Marvin Putnam, attorneys with AEG Live LLC ,in Los Angeles County Superior Court in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death trial Thursday in downtown Los Angeles. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Bailiffs are sworn in to protect the jury as Brian Panish, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, waits during the trial in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday. The singer’s family has sued the entertainment firm AEG Live LLC, saying the company negligently hired and supervised Conrad Murray, the doctor who administered the dose of propofol that killed the singer. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, an attorney for the Michael Jackson family, delivers his closing argument to jurors in a packed courtroom in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 24. The promoters of Michael Jackson’s last tour were “so excited” about making huge profits that they hired an unfit doctor to care for the star, his family’s lawyer said. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Marvin Putnam, lead attorney for AEG Live LLC and co-counsel Jessica Stebbins-Bina, listen to closing arguments by Michael Jackson family’s attorney, Brian Panish, in a packed courtroom Sept. 24. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, delivers his closing argument to jurors in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death lawsuit against concert promoter AEG Live LLC on Sept. 24. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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AEG attorney Marvin Putnam gives closing arguments in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case on Sept. 25. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos listens to a rebuttal argument in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case on Sept. 26. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson’s former wife and mother of two of his children, leaves Los Angeles County Superior Court after testifying at the trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, against AEG Live. (Nick Ut / Associated Press)

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Television crews report live outside Los Angeles County Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles on the first day of the trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit. (Joe Klamar / AFP/Getty Images)

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In this file photo dated Sept. 27, 2011, Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine Jackson arrives outside Los Angeles County Superior Court to hear opening statement in the involuntary manslaughter trial of pop superstar Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. Murray was convicted and sentenced to prison. (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)

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Singer Janet Jackson, left, Paris Katherine Jackson, Prince Michael Jackson II and LaToya Jackson are seen on stage during the memorial service for Michael Jackson at Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, 2009. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

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Entertainer Michael Jackson announces on March 5, 2009, that he will play a series of comeback concerts at the London O2 Arena in July. Jackson died before the concerts could be held. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press)

By Jeff Gottlieb

May 1, 2013 1:26 PM PT

A Los Angeles police homicide detective testified Wednesday that Michael Jackson’s doctor had a two-minute telephone conversation with his girlfriend while he was riding in the ambulance transporting the singer’s body to the hospital.

Testifying in the lawsuit Jackson’s mother and children have brought against entertainment giant AEG, Det. Orlando Martinez said the call to Nicole Alvarez lasted 133 seconds.

Testimony for the day ended just as Martinez appeared about to detail what Murray and his girlfriend were discussing. Jurors were dismissed early Wednesday because a member of the panel had to attend a funeral.

FULL COVERAGE: AEG wrongful-death trial

Martinez also testified that when he served a search warrant on the home Alvarez had once shared with Murray in Santa Monica, the only evidence he found that the doctor lived there was a piece of paper with the doctor’s name written on it.

“He was living there and none of his stuff was there,” Martinez said.

Martinez also continued his testimony about Murray’s desperate financial situation. Jackson attorney Brian Panish showed the jury documents showing Murray’s debts, including those for student loans, homeowner association fees, and bills from medical firms and cellphone companies. His Las Vegas home, on which he owed $1.6 million, was in foreclosure.

PHOTOS: Jackson-AEG wrongful death case

One 2007 judgment against Murray in Missouri ordered him to pay $135,000. There were also eviction notices for his medical business and liens for being behind on child-support payments.

Under questioning from Panish, Martinez said he had received the information from three credit bureaus.

Through his questioning, Panish appears to be trying to show how easily Anschutz Entertainment Group could have detected Murray’s money problems. The plaintiffs contend that Murray, who they say was hired and controlled by the entertainment firm, was more consumed with the money he was being paid for treating Jackson than his star patient’s actual well-being.

Martinez testified Tuesday that financial distress led him to believe Murray “may break the rules, bend the rules to do whatever he needed to get paid. It might solve his money problems.”

Murray had closed his offices to treat Jackson, his only patient. He was supposed to be paid $150,000 a month.

The detective testified that when he learned of the financial problems, it led him to believe Murray was more concerned with getting himself out of his financial hole than caring for his patient.

Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 for giving Jackson a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol to help him sleep. He is serving a jail term.

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jeff.gottlieb@latimes.com