Asked how long it took before Murray made the 9-1-1 call, Chernoff said (emphasis Tattle's), "We're estimating it took about at least 30 minutes before the 9-1-1 call was eventually made. There was a slowdown primarily because there was no phone service in the house. And Dr. Murray did not know precisely the address of the Jackson residence."

Uh, no one had a cell phone?

Asked why Murray had waited to make the call, Chernoff said: "Well, you're asking why a cardiologist and a doctor would be calling for doctors. His first goal was to resuscitate Michael Jackson. He knows what to do to - he knows how to perform CPR. He performed it properly. . . .

"And when he realized in a very short period of time, Suzanne, that he could not resuscitate him, then of course he started looking for ways to get help, by calling 9-1-1."

On whether Murray knew if Michael was using Demerol or Oxycontin, Chernoff said that Michael never told him he was. "If you're asking should he have asked, 'Hey, Michael, just wondering, do you take Demerol or Oxycontin?' He had no reason to suspect that he had. It's not as if it was well-known that that was happening, if it was happening, by the way.

"I mean, let's not rush to judgment here and say that Michael Jackson was a drug addict. We don't know that."

Everyone else close to Michael seemed to know it.

Tattbits

* With all the recent talk about Michael Jackson's lavish lifestyle, there was always someone who had him beat:

Queen Elizabeth II. Buckingham Palace says that public funding for the royal family cost British taxpayers the equivalent of $1.14 each last year.

The Queen's office published her latest accounts yesterday. It showed that the costs incurred by the royals were $68.6 million (not including the cost of security provided by the police and army), up $2.48 million from the previous year.

* In the charitable spirit of "We Are the World," Billboard.com reports that Jon Bon Jovi and exiled Iranian singer Andy Madadian have teamed up to record a new version of Ben E. King's "Stand By Me."

The Internet video is meant to send "a musical message of worldwide solidarity" to the Iranian people in the wake of the country's controversial recent election, according to co-producer Don Was.

Was says that the session last week in L.A. came about because he and Madadian wondered what they could do "just to send out a little message of solidarity, remembering the '60s, believing music can change things."

When they arrived at the studio to record, they found Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora and producer John Shanks sitting outside having lunch.

"They asked what we were doing," Was said, "and Jon said, 'Look, man, if you do it right now, we'll do it with you.' So we did."

Could be your only chance to hear Bon Jovi sing in Farsi.

"It is not for sale," Was said. "It's intended to be downloaded and shared by the Iranian people. The whole idea was to get it into Iran and tell them . . . to carry on, that the world is watching and we're with you." *

TATTLE'S TUESDAY GIVEAWAY

After so many meals given away over the last few weeks, it’s time for dessert.