Michael Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray free after two years in jail
Conrad Murray is released from his term of four years owing to a change in state law
The doctor convicted of killing Michael Jackson was released from jail yesterday after serving nearly two years of a four-year sentence.
Conrad Murray was released from a downtown Los Angeles jail at 12.01 am, according to the sheriff's office. A change in California law allowed his incarceration time to be significantly cut.
The former cardiologist was convicted in 2011 of causing Jackson's death in June 2009 by providing the superstar with an overdose of the powerful anaesthetic propofol as a sleep aid. Jackson was preparing for a series of comeback concerts and Murray was his personal physician.
Murray's prospects are uncertain. At 60, his license to practice medicine has been suspended or revoked in three states and his face and name are well known from his association with Jackson and his highly publicised involuntary manslaughter trial.
He is appealing his conviction, although an appeals court has questioned whether it needs to hear the case. His attorney, Valerie Wass, has argued that the court should not dismiss the appeal because it could alter his overall sentence and reduce some of the stigma his conviction has caused.
Despite being jailed, Murray hasn't been entirely silent. Audio recordings of his calls have been posted on celebrity website TMZ and he told the show that he cried tears of joy after a civil jury recently determined that the promoters of Jackson's comeback shows did not negligently hire Murray.
He did not, however, testify in the civil case or take the stand during his criminal trial.
Murray previously maintained clinics in Houston and Las Vegas and frequently complained about conditions in jail after his conviction. He was allowed to serve his entire sentence in a Los Angeles jail rather than a state prison owing to a law aimed at easing overcrowding by shifting non-violent offenders to local lock-ups.
Jurors in a lawsuit filed by Jackson's mother against concert giant AEG Live LLC this month determined the doctor was not unfit or incompetent to serve as Jackson's tour doctor. The panel heard testimony during the five-month trial about Jackson and Murray's relationship, but the panel said it did not condone the physician's conduct.
"That doesn't mean we felt he was ethical," jury foreman Gregg Barden said after the verdict.
