Good News for Conrad Murray: $100 Million Debt to Michael Jackson's Family Off the Table

Prosecutors who won Murray's involuntary-manslaughter conviction drop bid to collect retribution on behalf of the late singer's family

By Natalie Finn Jan 19, 2012 1:12 AMTags
Conrad Murray, Michael JacksonAP Photo/Isaac Brekken; Getty Images

There's one less pipe dream on the books.

The prosecutors who won a conviction of involuntary manslaughter against Conrad Murray have withdrawn their petition demanding $100 million in restitution from the disgraced doctor.

No, not $100 million for them, of course, but for Michael Jackson's family.

"We informed Judge Pastor that the Jackson family is not seeking restitution and asked that the matter be taken off the calendar" and there are no further hearings scheduled on the matter, Los Angeles District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Jane Robison told E! News Wednesday.

In asking for the maximum sentence possible for Murray, Deputy District Attorneys David Walgren and Deborah Brazil also filed a statement of the Jackson family's purported monetary losses resulting from Jackson's death in 2009 at the age of 50.

Murray was indeed sentenced to the max, four years in prison, and had his medical license taken away in California (with the D.A.'s office expressing confidence that other states will follow suit), but apparently the prosecution and Jackson's family determined that the physician—who was in dire financial straits before his conviction—would never be able to pay up.

While he will likely spend less than two years behind bars due to chronic overcrowding in California's prison and county jail systems, Murray filed paperwork last month noting that he was pretty much bankrupt and couldn't pay $1.8 million in funeral expenses, let alone the $100 million.

L.A. Superior Court Judge ruled that the Jacksons were permanently waiving their right to restitution from Murray, though a wrongful death suit filed by Joe Jackson could still result in a financial judgment against him.

—Reporting by Baker Machado