Police search Texas clinic in Jackson probe

LOS ANGELES -- Armed with a search warrant indicating Michael Jackson's death is being investigated as manslaughter, Los Angeles police detectives and federal drug agents on Wednesday swooped into the Houston clinic operated by the pop star's personal physician and seized documents and computer files.

The warrant, signed by a Harris County (Texas) District Court judge and executed on the offices of Dr. Conrad Murray, was the strongest indication yet that authorities are considering criminal charges in Jackson's death June 25.

"The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents, they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter," the doctor's lawyer, Edward Chernoff, said in a statement.

It was the fourth warrant served in the monthlong investigation, which has included interviews with 40 witnesses, according to sources familiar with the probe.

Murray, whose main practice and residence are in Las Vegas, was not present for the 31/2-hour search by officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division and the Houston Police Department. DEA spokeswoman Violet Szeleczky said investigators went to the Acres Home Heart and Vascular Institute, a cardiology clinic Murray opened in 2006, in search of records. She declined to elaborate.

A DEA official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the warrant mentioned the anesthetic propofol. Police removed large quantities of the powerful operating room drug from Jackson's rented house in Los Angeles, and DEA agents have been working with the manufacturer to trace the source of a specific lot number of the drug.

Propofol was not found in Murray's Houston offices, a source familiar with the search said.

Investigators took Murray's Rolodex, business cards, information about his use of Federal Express, e-mails he had received from a former employee, receipts for a storage unit and cell phone, and pamphlets advertising a nearby sleep clinic, the source said. Officers also took a folder with a biography of Murray and a photocopy of a picture of him, the source said.

Murray's lawyer said the investigators also made "a forensic image of a business computer hard drive."

Harris County District Court Judge Shawna Reagin signed the warrant, but court officials said the records were sealed and referred questions to the Los Angeles authorities.

An LAPD supervisor declined to say what investigators were seeking in Houston but cautioned against reading too much into the search. The department has never described the probe as criminal, and the cause of death remains unknown.

"It is an ongoing investigation into circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson's death," said LAPD Commander Pat Gannon.

In Las Vegas, the local branch of the DEA has been assisting the investigation, said Mike Flanagan, who heads the Las Vegas DEA office.

Las Vegas police Assistant Sheriff Mike McClary said authorities in Los Angeles had not asked his agency for help.

Murray's medical office in Las Vegas was dark and closed Wednesday, and nearby office workers said they hadn't seen any recent activity there.

Chernoff told the Los Angeles Times that Murray closed his Las Vegas and Houston offices in May to become Jackson's full-time doctor. The week after the singer's death, Murray turned over files from his Las Vegas office concerning Jackson's treatment there, the lawyer told the paper.

Chernoff also said Murray was currently in Las Vegas.

A reporter approaching the doctor's house in the Red Rock Country Club on Wednesday afternoon was turned away by a community security guard camped out on the street.

Sources familiar with the investigation said the department could ultimately conclude that Jackson died accidentally or determine that there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone in connection with his death.

Murray, a 51-year-old cardiologist, opened the Houston clinic in honor of his father, a physician who had worked in the poor, predominantly black neighborhood for decades. Murray traveled to Houston twice a month to see patients, according to a biography provided by his lawyer.

Murray had been hired at a monthly salary of $150,000 to care for Jackson.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Brian Haynes contributed to this report.