Capping a surreal week of speculation about the arrest and arraignment of Michael Jackson’s personal physician, the L.A. District Attorney’s office announced Friday that Dr. Conrad Murray will not be charged until Monday.
“Nothing will be filed today in the Michael Jackson death case,” said the bulletin sent by D.A. spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons. “A case will be filed on Monday, Feb. 8, at the Airport Court, 11701 S. La Cienega Blvd. Information on charges and the scheduled arraignment at the Airport Court will be released after the case is filed.”
An apparent turf-and-policy war has erupted between the D.A.’s office and the Los Angeles Police Dept. over how to handle Murray, whose attorneys believed they had successfully negotiated a self-surrender deal in which the doctor would first report to an LAPD substation.
There, Murray would be arrested and booked, but avoid the humiliation of being led away in handcuffs.
The next step had been arraignment at the Airport Court, where Murray was to post bond.
“This kind of thing happens all the time,” Murray spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik complained to TheWrap about the D.A.-LAPD discord.
Murray faces an involuntary manslaughter charge for Jackson’s 2009 drug-related death.
