#MICHAEL JACKSON: Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's doctor, released from prison after two years

Less than two years after Conrad Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, the 'Billy Jean' singer's personal physician walked out of Los Angeles County Jail a free man

Conrad Murray was sentenced to  four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter in Michael Jackson's death, but only served two because of California prison overcrowding.
The doctor convicted of unintentionally killing Michael Jackson walked out of jail a minute after midnight Monday after two years behind bars.

The 60-year-old doctor slipped out a back exit undetected by dozens of journalists and Jackson fans camped outside the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.

“He was released safely and securely,” Steve Whitmore, a spokesman with the Los Angeles County Sheriff, told the Daily News.

Whitmore said Murray was released to a “representative” using the back exit after “there was some thought there may be a safety issue.”
He called Murray an “exemplary” inmate who had been separated from the general population due to his notariety.
Murray’s lawyer Valerie Wass spoke outside the jail and said her client was anxious to “hug his kid” and “re-acclimate” to life on the outside.

“He wants to take some time and see his family,” she said, referring to his actress girlfriend Nicole Alvarez, 31, and their 4-year-old son.
“Believe me, after you’ve been locked up in this place for two years, it’s a shock emotionally and physically,” she said.
Murray had been sentenced to the statutory maximum of four years in jail for involuntary manslaughter but only had to serve two years thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court decision on state prison conditions that diverted him to the overcrowded Los Angeles County lockup.

The 'Beat It' singer died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication on June 25, 2009, 18 days before the first of his 'This Is It' concerts.

The cardiologist had suffered some medical problems behind bars and was moved to a larger cell after complaining last year that his cramped quarters were killing him.
Wass said she believed the King of Pop would have been outraged with Murray’s incarceration.
“Michael considered Dr. Murray family,” she said. “I believe Michael Jackson would be greatly relieved today. He would be absolutely appalled if he knew what’s gone on the last several years.”

Murray currently is appealing his felony conviction in California and filed paperwork in Texas on Friday to halt the revocation of his medical license there.
His California medical license, meanwhile, is suspended pending his criminal appeal. Still, his lawyers say Murray hopes to treat patients again.
“Dr. Murray has an unquenchable desire to help people, and no matter where it is, he will return to his given profession of healing,” his Texas lawyer Charles Peckham told The News last week.

“The truth is that a man like Dr. Murray who’s dedicated his life to helping people will find a place to do it,” he said. “If it’s in Texas or the U.S. or we don’t know where, you can be sure he will find a place to help people.”

Raised in Trinidad and trained in the U.S., Murray was convicted of Jackson’s involuntary manslaughter in November 2011 after a seven week trial.

Jurors found that the Houston cardiologist recklessly gave the “Thriller” singer the surgery-strength anesthetic propofol as an off-label sleep aid in his private bedroom without the proper equipment.

At sentencing, Murray’s judge said the doctor was more focused on his $150,000 per month paycheck than his famous patient’s wellbeing and saw no problem with “money for medicine madness.”

“Talk about blaming the victim,” Judge Michael Pastor said. “Not only isn’t there any remorse, there is umbrage and outrage on the part of Dr. Murray against the decedent.”

Murray has remained adamant he didn’t cause the King of Pop’s death.