Michael Jackson's doctor ready to surrender to police, says lawyer

AFP - Michael Jackson's deathbed doctor is ready to turn himself in if authorities file manslaughter charges linking him to the King of Pop's death, his lawyer has said.

Gallagher Fenwick, by phone from Los Angeles 'No charges have been filed as of yet'

"I don't have any specific information that leads me to believe he is going to be charged this week," Conrad Murray's attorney Ed Chernoff told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday. "But if he is, we've made it clear he's available to turn himself in."

The Houston, Texas-based personal physician and his lead attorney were in Los Angeles, a move that unleashed a flurry of speculation that authorities could file charges soon.

But the Los Angeles Country district attorney's office would not confirm whether prosecutors were preparing to file charges against Murray.

Chernoff told the Times that Murray was visiting Los Angeles for personal matters and for talks with his criminal defense team. The doctor has an infant son who lives in Santa Monica, California.

Murray, 56, has acknowledged that he administered the powerful anesthetic propofol only after trying many other medications to help Jackson sleep, and after the singer's "repeated demands/requests" for the drug.

Jackson then went into cardiac arrest within 20 minutes of that injection, while Murray had stepped out for a bathroom break, the doctor told authorities in an interview a few days after the death. The star died on June 25, aged 50.

By Murray's own account to police, he did not call for help until 12:22 pm, more than an hour after he realized Jackson wasn't breathing.