Los Angeles prosecutors on Monday charged Michael Jackson's doctor with involuntary manslaughter in the pop singer's sudden death last year from a lethal cocktail of drugs.
Dr. Conrad Murray had been the focus of a police probe for months, since the Los Angeles coroner's office ruled that Jackson's June 25 death was a homicide and due partially to his use of the powerful anesthetic propofol, which Murray has admitted giving the 50-year-old singer to help him sleep.
The coroner's report in August said Jackson's death was caused by propofol and the sedative lorazepam. Painkillers, sedatives and a stimulant also were found in his body.
Prosecutors said Murray "did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson," according to a statement from the Los Angeles District Attorney's office.
Murray, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, is expected to arraigned on the criminal charge later on Monday.
The doctor has insisted he did nothing wrong and has told investigators he was not the first doctor to give Jackson propofol, according to court records.
But authorities found bottles of propofol in Murray's doctor's bag and on the bedside table of Jackson's home, according to court records unsealed last year. They also searched Murray's offices in Las Vegas and Houston.
Members of the Jackson family were photographed arriving at a Los Angeles courthouse for Murray's arraignment on Monday.
Murray, a cardiologist, was hired in May 2009 to care for Jackson while he prepared for a series of 50 comeback concerts in London aimed at reviving a career sidelined by his 2005 trial and acquittal on charges of molesting a 13-year-old boy.
The singer, dubbed the King of Pop, was a member of the legendary Motown singing group the Jackson 5 and was a hugely successful solo artist as an adult. His 1982 album "Thriller" remains the world's best-selling album.
His sudden cardiac arrest on the morning of June 25, which prompted a worldwide outpouring of grief, followed a late night rehearsal in Los Angeles for the planned concerts that were to have been called "This Is It."
A documentary film, "Michael Jackson's This Is It," made from video footage of the rehearsals for those concerts, took in nearly $260 million at worldwide box offices.
When Jackson died, he left an estate worth hundreds of millions of dollars that went into trusts benefiting his mother, three children and various charities.
Jackson's family is said to be furious that Los Angeles police and prosecutors took months to file a criminal charge.
Brother Jermaine Jackson, also one of the Jackson 5, told celebrity news show "Entertainment Tonight" last week that Murray "should be cuffed, he should be fingerprinted, he should have his mug shot just like they did my brother," referring to Michael Jackson's arrest on child molestation charges.
