Dr. Murray accused of neglect in Jackson’s death

Dr. Conrad Murray.

LOS ANGLES – Michael Jackson’s physician was charged by the District Attorney’s Office today with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the entertainer’s death last summer.

Dr. Conrad Robert Murray, 56, was charged at the Airport Branch of Los Angeles Superior Court. 

The count alleged that Murray “ did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson…in the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to a felony; and in the commission of a lawful act which might have produced death, in an unlawful manner, and without due caution and circumspection.”

Arraignment was scheduled for Monday in the Airport Court at 11701 S La Cienega Blvd. 

Jackson, 50, was stricken at his North Carolwood Drive home on June 25, 2009, and taken to UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. 

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren of the Major Crimes Division will prosecute the case. 

Walgren has worked closely with the investigative agencies – the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.  Both agencies worked diligently and exhaustively to collect the evidence leading to filing of the case.

If convicted, Murray faces a possible maximum four-year state prison term.  Sentencing will be up to the court.

The charge stops short of saying that Jackson’s death was caused by intent. Rather, it suggests a misadventure during which Jackson lost his life.

Involuntary manslaughter is one of the lightest charges when one individual does something that ends up killing another.

The allegation is expected to be that the doctor injected Jackson with substances that unintentionally caused his death.

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