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Lawyer: Police seek Jackson manslaughter link
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-23 08:14 HOUSTON – Dozens of police and federal agents descended on the Houston clinic of Michael Jackson's doctor Wednesday in what his attorney said was a search for evidence of manslaughter, thrusting the doctor back under suspicion in the King of Pop's death.
Police have said little about the probe, neither confirming nor denying the possibility of criminal charges. The Los Angeles Police Department said he was still not considered a suspect, though the raid shows investigators are intensely scrutinizing the doctor. It's still not known what caused Jackson's death at age 50. The pop star went into cardiac arrest in his bedroom and Murray performed CPR while an ambulance was called, according to Murray's lawyers. Los Angeles police and agents with the US Drug Enforcement Administration went through the Armstrong Medical Clinic on Wednesday for about 2 1/2 hours. Authorities said they were searching for documents. "The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter," Ed Chernoff, Murray's attorney, said in a statement posted on his law firm's Web site. The Harris County warrant remains sealed and unavailable to the media.
About three dozen officers and agents participated in the raid with Houston police surrounding the building as the investigators went inside at about 10:30 CDT. DEA spokeswoman Violet Szeleczky said about 20 people were in the Armstrong Medical Clinic, including employees. A neighborhood crowd gathered to watch the raid until agents left after 1 pm and Houston police told reporters and the onlookers to leave the clinic's property. Szeleczky said the agents were looking for Murray's records, not drugs, but wouldn't specify further. She declined to say how the search related to Jackson's death. The search of Murray's office hard drive indicates authorities are looking not just for patient records but also for e-mails either between the doctor and Jackson or orders for prescription drugs, said Harland Braun, a prominent Los Angeles defense attorney who has represented doctors in cases involving administration of drugs. Meanwhile, investigators in California also sought more information from Murray, according to Chernoff. In a statement on his site late Tuesday, Chernoff said investigators from the Los Angeles County coroner's office have asked for medical records in addition to those already provided by Murray. "The coroner wants to clear up the cause of death; we share that goal," Chernoff said in his statement. "Based on Dr. Murray's minute-by-minute and item-by-item description of Michael Jackson's last days, he should not be a target of criminal charges." |
