LOS ANGELES: A judge Tuesday ordered Michael Jackson's personal doctor to stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges for allegedly killing the singer with an overdose of powerful sedatives. Conrad Murray, who claims he was just treating the pop icon for insomnia when he died in June 2009, also had his license to practice medicine in California suspended. The cardiologist will be arraigned on January 25, the Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled after six days of hearings that included evidence that Murray tried to cover up having given Jackson an overdose of the drug propofol. Judge Michael Pastor said testimony presented in court convinced him that to let the doctor keep his medical license “would constitute an imminent danger to public safety.” Jackson's death shocked the entertainment world and triggered intense debate over the performer's health in the run-up to London concerts, known as the “This is It” tour. Murray could face up to four years in jail and permanently lose his doctor's license if the case goes to full trial and he is convicted. His defense team has suggested that Jackson could have effectively killed himself by administering an extra dose of propofol while Murray was out of the room. Prosecutors allege that Murray, 57, “abandoned his patient” after administering the propofol some time between 10:40 am and 11:00 am to help Jackson sleep, and then tried to cover it up after the singer's death. Tuesday's widely-expected ruling came shortly after a forensic expert testified that Jackson's death was a homicide, saying the singer was in generally good health when he died on June 25, 2009 at his Los Angeles mansion.
