Jackson’s doctor released from jail

February 9, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The doctor who prosecutors say caused Michael Jackson’s death has been released from jail after posting $75,000 in bail only a few hours after surrendering to authorities on a manslaughter charge.

Sheriff’s department spokesman Steve Whitmore said Dr. Conrad Murray was released Monday afternoon. Earlier in the day, he appeared in Superior Court and pleaded innocent. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Murray’s lawyer says the doctor plans to return to his medical practices in Houston and Las Vegas while he awaits trial.

However, state officials say they plan to ask that the court suspend his medical license while he is free on bail.

Some two hours after prosecutors filed the single felony count, Murray arrived in court in a gray suit to enter his plea. As he did, several members of Jackson’s family looked on.

Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz set bail at $75,000, three times more than most people charged with involuntary manslaughter face. Prosecutors had been seeking $300,000 bail for Murray, who was taken into custody by deputy sheriffs but not handcuffed.

According to a five-page criminal complaint, Murray “did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson” by acting “without due caution and circumspection.”

The complaint contains no details on Jackson’s death, but authorities have said the singer died after Murray administered a powerful general anesthetic and other drugs to help Jackson rest.

As Murray walked past a crowd of hundreds of reporters and Jackson fans on his way to a courthouse adjacent to Los Angeles International Airport, several people shouted “murderer.”