Michael Jackson doctor ‘to be charged over death’

More than seven months after Michael Jackson died at his rented home in Hollywood, reports from Los Angeles suggest his personal physician at the time, Dr Conrad Murray, could be about to hand himself in to police and be charged with involuntary manslaughter.

The pop star's death, already ruled a homicide, was primarily caused by the powerful anaesthetic Propofol, which Murray admits he gave Jackson to help him with chronic insomnia. But according to the Los Angeles coroner's report in August, other drugs were also detected in his bloodstream, including the sedatives Midazolam and Diazepam, the painkiller Lidocaine and the stimulant Ephedrine.

Murray has been interviewed and investigated on and off ever since Jackson died on June 25 last year. His offices in Houston and Las Vegas have been searched. But he continues to deny he caused his patient's death, claiming nothing he prescribed for his patient should have killed him.

The definition of involuntary manslaughter in the US is a death resulting indirectly from negligence or recklessness.

Ed Chernoff, Murray's lawyer, told the Reuters news agency: "I don't think they should be filing charges at all." But he added: "If the cops want him he's not hiding. We'll be happy to surrender him and they know that."

If Murray is charged by police, as expected, he faces a hearing in Los Angeles at which a judge will decide if he should then go on trial. ·