MJ’s doc may serve term under house arrest, not prison, if convicted

Washington: If Dr. Conrad Murray is convicted of felony involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson and sentenced to the maximum; he will not spend a single day in prison and could end up on house arrest under a new law.

The new law, which went into effect in California on October 1, states that because of overcrowding, people convicted of non-violent felonies cannot be sent to State prison. Instead, non-violent felons serve their time in county jail,Fox News reported. And according to TMZ, law enforcement says that involuntary manslaughter is a non-violent felony, meaning if Murray is convicted he’d go to L.A. County Jail. Regarding how long Murray would serve, L.A. County Sheriff’s officials told the website that the convicted doctor would be jailed for half the actual sentence. So if he gets the maximum 4 years he would only serve 2. But there’s also a possibility that Murray could serve way less than 2 years. Because of severe overcrowding, inmates are eligible for house arrest, based on 2 factors - their prior criminal history, and risk to the community. In this case Murray has a clean record and, as one law enforcement official put it, the crime he is accused of means he poses no risk to the public. So if the jail is filled, the Sheriff could put him on house arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet. ANI