LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The doctor hired to care for Michael Jackson was charged on Monday with killing the pop star after a lengthy investigation that found a lethal cocktail of drugs in the singer’s system when he died last year.

Dr. Conrad Murray, who lives in Las Vegas, pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death that officials have ruled was due mainly to an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol, among several drugs.

Murray was heckled by Jackson fans chanting “murderer” as he entered a Los Angeles courthouse in a crisp grey suit and red tie. Once in court, he faced angry members of Jackson’s family, including mother Katherine and brother Jermaine.

The doctor remained stoic during the proceeding and when addressed by the judge, spoke softly. He was admonished not to leave the country and not to give any patient an anesthetic. He posted bail of $75,000 and was allowed to leave.

To reach a guilty verdict for involuntary manslaughter — meaning Murray killed Jackson but he did so without malice — jurors must believe that whatever the doctor did to Jackson went beyond an accident and was criminally negligent.

Murray, 56, faces up to four years in prison if convicted. He is still allowed to practice medicine, although prosecutors filed a motion to revoke his license.

“This has been a nightmare for him for many different reasons. One of the reasons is he lost a friend” in Jackson, Murray’s attorney Ed Chernoff told reporters outside the courthouse. He said Murray was headed home to Las Vegas.

Murray, a cardiologist, was hired in May 2009 to care for Jackson as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts aimed at reviving a career sidelined by the singer’s 2005 trial and acquittal on charges of molesting a 13-year-old boy.

The singer was a member of Motown singing group the Jackson 5 and was a hugely successful solo artist, whose 1982 smash hit “Thriller” is still the world’s best-selling album.

‘BATTLE OF MEDICAL EXPERTS’

The doctor has been the focus of a police probe for months since the Los Angeles coroner’s office ruled that Jackson’s June 25 death was a homicide. Coroners said Jackson’s death was caused by propofol and the sedative lorazepam. Painkillers, sedatives and a stimulant also were found in his body.

Murray has admitted giving the 50-year-old singer propofol to help him sleep, and authorities found bottles of the anesthetic in his doctor’s bag and on the bedside table of Jackson’s home, according to court records unsealed last year.

The doctor and his lawyers have insisted he did nothing wrong. Murray has told investigators he was not the first doctor to give Jackson propofol, according to court records.

Lawyers outside the case say a trial will involve each side lining up experts to bolster their arguments.

“It’s clear this case will be a battle of medical experts,” said noted New York defense attorney Joseph DiBenedetto.

Legal experts said the likely reason police took seven months to investigate was because prosecutors wanted to get the facts straight, but some suggested it hinted at a weak case.

Outside court, Katherine Jackson told celebrity magazine People that Murray is “a monster,” and Brian Oxman, lawyer for father Joe Jackson, called the charge “a slap on the wrist.”

Source

VIA SINGERSROOM:

Los Angeles authorities have officially changed the death certificate belonging to late King of Pop, Michael Jackson to reflect an exact cause of death.

Updated due to the completion of a lengthy investigation, Jackson’s cause of death has now been labeled a murder due to ‘acute Propofol intoxication’ via an ‘intravenous injection from another’.

Jackson’s original death certificate was filed July 7.

While the official cause of death has been revealed, embattled Dr. Conrad Murray remains a free man.

Sources say the Jackson family, specifically Joe Jackson, still believe more than one person is responsible for the entertainer’s death.

“Joe won’t give up on getting justice for his son and a lawsuit is his focus,” a source told Daily Mail.

As previously reported, sources close to the investigation told TMZ they believe Murray will be charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Source

VIA MSNBC:

HOUSTON – The Los Angeles County coroner ruled Michael Jackson’s death a homicide Monday after a search warrant affidavit revealed that Jackson had lethal levels of the powerful anesthetic propofol in his system when he died.

The document unsealed Monday allowed officials to raid the Houston offices and storage facility of Dr. Conrad Murray last month.

According to the warrant, Murray, Jackson’s personal physician, had been treating the singer for insomnia with the sedative for six weeks. According to the document, Murray said he had been trying to wean Jackson off the powerful sedative by using smaller doses in combination with the sedatives lorazepam and midazolam.

On the morning Jackson died, Murray said he tried to induce sleep without using propofol, starting first with valium at 1:30 a.m. When he was still awake at 2 a.m., Murray injected Jackson with lorazepam, then injected him with midazolam at 3 a.m. Murray told police he administered several other drugs over the next few hours.

By 10:40 a.m., Jackson, still unable to sleep, urged Murray to give him propofol. Murray said in court documents that he administered 25 milligrams of the drug at that time, then left Jackson alone under the influence of the drug to make phone calls to his Houston office. When he returned, Jackson was not breathing. He performed CPR while a member of Jackson’s staff called 911. The singer was rushed to UCLA Medical Center where he was declared dead sometime later.

The affidavit says , while Murray acknowledged to police that he administered propofol, authorities said they could find no evidence that he had purchased, ordered or obtained the medication under his medical license or Drug Enforcement Administration tracking number. The newspaper also reported that police detectives found about eight bottles of the aneesthetic in Jackson’s house along with other vials and pills that had been prescribed to Jackson by Dr. Murray, Dr. Arnold Klein and Dr. Allan Metzger.

Valium, lorazepam, clonazepam, tamsulosin and other drugs also were confiscated in the search, and propofol was found in Murray’s medical bag. According to the warrant, Murray told police he was not the first doctor to administer propofol to the singer.

Read more here.

VIA CBS NEWS:

Michael Jackson’s mother will get custody of his three children under terms of a deal that’s just been reached.

The word comes in an exclusive interview by “Early Show” features reporter and weather anchor Dave Price of L. Londell McMillan, the attorney for Katherine Jackson.

He says Katherine, 79, and Debbie Rowe, the biological mother of two of Jackson’s kids, have come to terms.

Sources tell CBS News Katherine will get full custody and Rowe will have visitation rights, but won’t be getting any money under terms of the pact.

There had been reports, hotly denied by Rowe, that she had previously agreed to accept a large sum of money to relinquish all her parental rights.

The accord would appear to head off what some observers has predicted would be a bitter custody battle between the two women.

“It’s an agreement, an agreement for the best interests of the children. This is not a money deal. This is not about money. … “There is no situation better for these children than for them to be raised and reared in the loving care of Mrs. Katherine Jackson,” McMillan told Price.

In the wide-ranging interview, McMillan, who’s also represented such big-name celebrities as Kanye West, Stevie Wonder, Spike Lee and Prince, and who owns The Source magazine, also discussed the battle over Jackson’s estate, the pending autopsy results, how the family is coping with Jackson’s death, and rumors of a fourth Jackson child.

He estimated that Michael’s estate could be worth as much as $2 billion.

Read more here.

VIA NEWSONE:

Meet the real Joe Jackson — beyond the rumors, beyond the stereotypes, beyond the usual answers to the typical questions.

In a joint NewsOne/TVOne exclusive, Joe Jackson reveals more than ever before of himself and his relationship with his late son Michael. Joe Jackson talks candidly with NewsOne’s Smokey Fontaine about:

… the young man, Omer Bhatti, who has been rumored to be Michael Jackson’s biological child
…Michael’s death, and how his son would be alive today if he had been there for him
…Michael’s grandfather, “Professor Jackson,” who was, in many ways, Michael’s inspiration

View the previews below, watch for the full interview coming on Thursday, July 30, and don’t forget to watch “Forever Michael” Week, only on TV One, July 27-31, 2009.

VIA MEN.STYLE:

The hit-making producer behind the King of Pop’s rise discusses Jackson’s life, death, and love of chemical peels

Q: How have you been holding up since Michael Jackson’s death?
A: Oh, man. It’s surrealistic. I went to Shanghai for the movie festival over there—I took Halle Berry—and then went back to Luxembourg, and in three days I lost Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael. And Michael’s thing is still surrealistic to me. I can’t process it, man. I don’t know how to process it. It’s just unbelievable—him leaving before me. I can’t believe it.

Q: Have you been crying?
A: Oh, man, it’s more than that. It’s way more than that. It hurts my soul, man. It’s just a lump down there.

Q: You were there to witness the strange evolution in Michael’s appearance. Did you ever step in and saying anything about it?
A: Oh, we talked about it all the time. But he’d come up with, “Man, I promise you I have this disease,” and so forth, and “I have a blister on my lungs,” and all that kind of b.s. It’s hard, because Michael’s a Virgo, man—he’s very set in his ways. You can’t talk him out of it. Chemical peels and all that stuff.

Q: Did you believe him about the disease?
A: I don’t believe in any of that b*****it, no. No. Never. I’ve been around junkies and stuff all my life. I’ve heard every excuse. It’s like smokers—”I only smoke when I drink” and all that stuff. But it’s b*****it. You’re justifying something that’s destructive to your existence. It’s crazy. I mean, I came up with Ray Charles, man. You know, nobody gonna pull no wool over my eyes. He did heroin 20 years! Come on. And black coffee and gin for 40 years. But when he called me to come over to see him when he was in the hospital on his way out, man, he had emphysema, hepatitis C, cirrhosis of the liver, and five malignant tumors. Please, man! I’ve been around this all my life. So it’s hard for somebody to pull the wool over my eyes. But when somebody’s hell-bent on it, you can’t stop ‘em.

Read more here.

VIA PEOPLE:

What drugs were in Michael Jackson’s system at the time of his death?

The L.A. coroner’s pending toxicology report – expected to answer that key question any day now – may hold the fate of Dr. Conrad Murray, the singer’s personal physician. Murray was with Jackson on the day he died and is the apparent focus of a manslaughter investigation.

According to Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Chief Investigator Craig Harvey, the long-awaited autopsy report will be released within days. “We anticipate releasing it this week,” Harvey said July 27. “We still have details to work out.”

Miranda Sevcik, spokesperson for Murray’s attorney Ed Chernoff, says they’re “in the dark” as to whether an arrest of Murray is imminent, even as news reports increasingly point to potentially serious trouble for the Houston-based physician.

On Monday, CNN and the Associated Press reported investigators believe Murray was the person who injected Jackson with the powerful anesthesia Propofol the night before the entertainer died. Jackson regularly used the drug to help him sleep, according to media reports.

Read more here.

The leader of the Nation of Islam talks at length with CNN’s Don Lemon about Michael Jackson and the ongoing struggle for racial identity in America.

Michael Jackson’s prescription medication usage has been the subject of many recent reports. According to the late star it was this accident from 1984, where he was burned by pyrotechnics on the set of a Pepsi commercial, that left him in such pain that he required prescription meds.

Tito Jackson Says He Confronted MJ About Drug Abuse

In the clip below we are given a never-before-seen rear view of Jackson as he descends onto the stage and his hair catches fire.