Dr. Conrad Murray may be sentenced for unexpected death of singer Michael Jackson
Dr. Conrad Murray’s sentencing on Tuesday for involuntary manslaughter is the final step in the criminal case launched within days of Jackson’s unexpected death in June 2009.
Prosecutors want a judge to sentence the 58-year-old Murray to the maximum four-year prison term. Defense attorneys counter that Murray already faces a lifetime of shame and diminished opportunities and should receive probation.
How long Murray might remain behind bars depends on the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, which would base the decision on good behaviour and other factors.
Even without overcrowding and a new state law that will send Murray to county jail rather than prison, a four-year sentence could be cut in half by good behaviour.
On Monday it remained unclear whether Jackson’s family will speak during the hearing. His mother Katherine and several siblings routinely attended the six-week trial that ended with the conviction on Nov 7.
Michael Jackson’s doctor facing the singer’s distraught family and ardent fans in the death of the superstar from an overdose of an operating-room anaesthetic.
