Jackson's doctor pleads not guilty to manslaughter
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Charged: Conrad Murray arrives at the Los Angeles Superior Court Airport Branch Courthouse (Reuters: Danny Moloshok)
Michael Jackson's former doctor Conrad Murray has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter over the singer's death last year.
Murray entered the plea at a Los Angeles courthouse this morning after prosecutors formally charged him overnight.
Members of Michael Jackson's family were at the courthouse to witness Murray's court appearance.
The physician was ordered to surrender his passport and post bail of $US75,000 ($87,000) ahead of a hearing on April 5.
Murray has been a focus of investigations for months, ever since the coroner's office ruled that Jackson's death in Los Angeles on June 25 was a homicide by drug overdose.
The investigation into the singer's death has involved state police and federal agents and lengthy negotiations between prosecutors and defence lawyers over a surrender deal for 56-year-old Murray.
The criminal charge alleges the doctor "did unlawfully and without malice kill Jackson", describing it as an "unlawful act, not amounting to a felony."
Speaking outside the courthouse, Michael Jackson's brother Jermaine expressed the Jackson family's dissatisfaction, saying the charge was "not enough".
Jackson devotees also gathered outside to protest the involuntary manslaughter charge, saying Murray should have been charged with murder.
"We want justice for Michael," said Michelle Perell, 26. "He [Murray] should be charged with first or second degree murder and go to jail for life. He killed the most beautiful person in the world."
Other fans brandished banners which read: "The World Wants Justice for Michael" and "Justice for Michael Jackson." Another read: "Conrad Murray is a Murderer: Arrest him in handcuffs."
Brian Oxman, a lawyer for Jackson's family, criticised the involuntary manslaughter charge, saying it amounted to a "slap on the wrist".
"I don't think it would satisfy anybody, the millions of fans around the world," Mr Oxman told CBS television.
"That is just a slap on the wrist and a slap in the face, because Michael Jackson was someone who we knew was in danger of being brought to his knees, brought to his death by the use of these medications."
Murray was with Jackson when he died and has admitted giving the 50-year-old singer a dose of the powerful anaesthetic propofol to help him sleep.
A cocktail of other painkillers, sedatives and a stimulant were also found in his body.
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