Judge Michael Pastor may have imposed the maximum possible sentence on Conrad Murray this morning—four years behind bars—but as jubilant a reaction as Michael Jackson's family initially had to the punishment, well, cooler, more critical heads seem to have prevailed.
"It wasn't enough time," Jermaine Jackson told E! News on his way out of the courthouse.
Hardly a surprisingly response given that just moments after the hearing ended, Los Angeles Sheriff spokesman Steve Whitmore told E! News that when all is said and done, Murray, as expected, will not serve the four-year sentence doled out to him, but will instead wind up serving "a little less than two years" of that sentence.
The district attorney, however, isn't so sure.
Los Angeles Country Sheriff's Dept.
Let's do the math.
"As far as the Sheriff is concerned, after the state takes away two years and he gets credit for time served, he will do a little less than two years," Whitmore said.
In court this morning, Pastor credited Murray with 46 days already served, thanks to the 23 he spent locked up between his verdict and sentencing dates, as well as credit given for good behavior.
However, in a press conference given after the hearing, District Attorney Steve Cooley said Murray's time in lockup remained a question mark.
"This is one of the great mysteries of life: What amount of time is someone going to actually do when they're sentenced to do so by a judge?"
Los Angeles Country Sheriff's Dept. Jermaine's sentiments aside, the rest of the Jackson family seemed pleased with the sentence, and were seen hugging, kissing, smiling and generally congratulating each other outside the courtroom.
"Justice was served," LaToya Jackson told E! News on her way out. "Now we just have to deal with the jail overcrowding."
Longtime family friend Kathy Hilton, who accompanied LaToya to court this morning, also reacted to the sentencing.
"They were complaining about [Murray] being in an 8-foot jail cell, Michael is in a box forever," she said.
As for the prosecution, they sided with LaToya, with Assistant District Attorney David Wahlgren declaring simply in a press conference after the hearing, "We are pleased."
Not so, Murray's defense, who seemed convinced that there was nothing they could have done to lessen Murray's sentence, including having the doctor speak on his own behalf.
"He read from a prepared speech," attorney J. Michael Flanagan said of the judge. "He could have said he was responsible, and at that point the judge could have jumped all over him to justify whatever he wanted to do. Or he could groveled for clemency, but he's a man.
"I didn't think there was anything anybody could say—from the prosecution or defense—that was going to alter what this judge was going to say."
—Reporting by Ken Baker, Claudia Rosenbaum and Baker Machado
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