Feds Raid Offices of Michael Jackson's Doctor; Search Sought Evidence of Manslaughter

Several dozen DEA agents and police officers carry out search warrant at Houston HQ of star's personal physician

UPDATE: Dr. Conrad Murray's attorney confirmed that a search warrant was executed today at the doctor's Houston offices, and said that authorities spent more than two hours looking for evidence relating to manslaughter in their inspection.

"The search was conducted by members of the DEA, two Robbery-Homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department and Houston Police officers," Ed Chernoff, who remained present for the duration of the search, said.

"The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter."

Included in their haul was a forensic image of a business computer hard drive and 21 documents, none of which were previously requested by investigators.

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Dr. Conrad Murray may not be a formal suspect in the possibly criminal investigation into Michael Jackson's death, but that doesn't mean authorities aren't very interested in the prescribing practices of the late star's personal physician.

So much so, in fact, that several dozen Drug Enforcement Administration agents, along with local uniformed police officers, turned up at the Houston offices of the apparently unsuspecting doctor to carry out a search warrant this morning.

"This is unexpected to us," Chernoff initially told E! News of the search.

Makes you wonder how the DEA would handle an actual suspect.

"Right now, I can't comment on the ongoing investigation," DEA agent Juan Martinez told E! News.

Luckily, DEA spokesman Rusty Payne was bound by no such order and said that the department was simply lending a hand.

"This is an LAPD case—we're really just assisting," he said.

According to Houston's local ABC affiliate, KTRK, the agents arrived en masse at roughly 10:20 a.m. this morning to the Armstrong Medical Clinic, where Murray's offices are located. Two uniformed Houston police officers have since been stationed outside the clinic to keep onlookers out of the building.

While the search warrant has been sealed, Payne confirmed to E! News that it was "absolutely" related to the powerful prescription drug Propofol—a don't try it at home medication if ever there was one—which preliminary results of the second autopsy indicated was present in potentially lethal amounts in Jackson's system.

The controversial Murray—who is reportedly in Las Vegas at the moment, where Fox News claims a similar search played out yesterday—served as Jackson's personal physician and was with the star when he died. He is licensed in California, Nevada and Texas and, according to his lawyer, has been nothing but cooperative with investigators.

Just yesterday, Chernoff released a statement reiterating that Murray was not, and should not, be a suspect, and that investigators recently requested additional medical records from the doctor.

By the looks of things down in Houston, they got them.

—Additional reporting by Lindsay Miller

(Originally published on July 22, 2009 at 10:07 a.m. PT)