doctor's appointment: Jackson's physician charged over death

Dr Conrad Murray, a cardiologist who was with Jackson when he died at his rented Los Angeles mansion, is accused of acting “unlawfully and without malice” in bringing about his death, according to a complaint filed by prosecutors.

The complaint said Murray acted “without the caution and circumspection required” when he administered a powerful sedative to the 50-year-old star in an effort to help him sleep.

If convicted, Murray faces as much as four years in prison.

Soon after the charge was filed yesterday, Jackson’s mother and father, his brother Jermaine Jackson, and other family members arrived at the court house beside Los Angeles International Airport, where hundreds of reporters and Jackson fans had gathered outside.

“Looking for justice,” was all Jackson’s father, Joe, had to say as he walked past a crowd of reporters and inside.

Before the charge was filed, Murray’s attorney, Ed Chernoff, said: “We’ll make bail, we’ll plead not guilty and we’ll fight like hell.”

Jackson had hired Murray as a personal physician while preparing for strenuous comeback concerts in London.

Officials say the singer died after Murray administered the powerful anaesthetic propofol and two other sedatives to get the chronic insomniac to sleep.

Los Angeles investigators were methodical in building a case against Murray, wary of repeating mistakes that have plagued some other high-profile celebrity cases, most notably OJ Simpson and actor Robert Blake, both of whom were acquitted of murder.

After reviewing toxicology findings, the coroner ruled Jackson’s death a homicide caused by acute intoxication of propofol, with other sedatives a contributing factor.