Jackson doctor raided

Michael Jackson's doctor's office has been raided by police looking for evidence "of the offence of manslaughter".

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) arrived at the Houston, Texas, clinic of Dr. Conrad Murray - who was the late pop icon's personal physician and was with him when he died last month - at around 10.20am this morning (22.07.09).

They are believed to be looking for Jackson's medical records.

Murray's lawyer, Ed Chernoff, confirmed in a statement: "We can confirm that a search warrant was executed today on Dr. Murray's offices in Houston, Texas. We reviewed the warrant and remained on the premises while the search was being executed.

"The search was conducted by members of the DEA, two Robbery-Homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department and Houston police officers.

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

"Law enforcement concluded their search around 12:30pm, and left with a forensic image of a business computer hard drive and 21 documents. None of the documents taken had previously been requested by law enforcement or the L.A. Coroner's Office."

It has been claimed the warrant was linked to the findings of Jackson's preliminary autopsy report.

Miranda Sevcik, a representative for lawyer Chernoff, said: "This raid was unexpected to us. All this drama is just not necessary, this is how we feel. Ed's not dismayed about it. He's just trying to figure out what's going on. But he's not worried about it."

Although the events leading up to Michael's death remain unclear, there has been intense speculation he was misusing prescription drugs at the time of his passing.

According to reports, police are focusing their investigation on the 50-year-old singer's use of the anaesthetic Propofol, which is used to put patients to sleep before surgery.

A source confirmed: "It is Conrad Murray they're looking at. They are looking for Propofol, along with anything else they find. But Propofol is the big one."