Michael Jackson's doctor ordered to return for court hearing in two months
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The late king of pop Michael Jackson's personal physician Conrad Murray made his appearance Monday in a hearing for his alleged involuntary manslaughter charge, while the judge refrained from making a ruling and ordered him to return in more than two months' time.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor ordered Murray to return June 14 when a date is expected to be set for a preliminary hearing -- during which the judge will determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.
The judge is also expected to consider a request from the California Attorney General's Office to revoke the 57-year-old doctor's medical license, in a bid to effectively preventing him from practicing in California while the case is pending.
Murray, 57, a cardiologist who was licensed to operate in California, Nevada and Texas, pleaded not guilty over the charge of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the superstar's death from an overdose of propofol at a court hearing on Feb. 8. He was released on 75,000 U.S. dollars bail and was banned from administering any such heavy sedatives to patients. The charge carries a potential four-year prison term.
As several Jackson family members -- including his parents and his sister, Janet -- looked on from the court's second row and several Jackson fans looked on from the back row, the judge announced his decision during the brief hearing. Edward Chernoff, one of Murray's attorneys, welcomed the delay while Deputy Attorney General Trina Saunders told the judge that he felt the issue should not be put on hold until June.
Saunders wrote in court papers filed March 23 referring to Jackson's death that Murray's "criminal conduct and reckless actions taken in the care and treatment of his patient M.J. make him a danger to the public." He asked the judge to revoke Murray's license for practicing business in California.
Murray's attorneys contended that if the request is granted, the revocation of the doctor's license to practice medicine in Texas and Nevada would follow, saying that it would be " financially and personally devastating".
The cardiologist has not seen patients in California for more than eight months and "does not presently intend to practice in the state any time soon," his attorneys said.
Jackson, 50, was pronounced dead at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center about two hours after he was found not breathing at his rented Holmby Hills estate on June 25, 2009 when he was preparing for his comeback London concerts. The Los Angeles County coroner's office determined that the singer's death was the result of "acute propofol intoxication." Coroners found high levels of powerful anesthetic propofol -- a white liquid that the singer called "milk " -- in his system when he died.
Murray claimed Jackson was a chronic insomniac who had depended for years on the drug to sleep, police documents stated. This potent drug is usually administered by licensed anesthesiologists in hospital operations.
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