LOS ANGELES - The doctor convicted of killing pop icon Michael Jackson is being held in a high-security medical facility but is not under a suicide watch as reported, a jail official said.
Dr. Conrad Murray, 58, is in an area that sometimes houses suicidal inmates, but "there is no medical reason for it," Deputy Jeff Cannon told the Daily News.
"It's a matter of convenience until they determine where they can put him. It has a higher percentage of deputies to inmates," Cannon said.
The Los Angeles Times first reported the suicide watch Monday night, citing an anonymous law enforcement source.
The report followed just hours after Murray was deemed a danger to society, handcuffed in court and told he'll remain locked up until sentencing on Nov. 29.
Murray, 58, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Monday in the dramatic culmination of a closely watched six-week trial and about nine hours of jury deliberation.
The seven-man, five-woman panel ultimately sided with prosecutors who portrayed Murray as an opportunistic doctor willing to bend the rules and provide the dangerous anesthetic propofol to a wealthy patient behind closed bedroom doors.
Defense lawyers tried unsuccessfully to paint Murray as a "little fish in a big dirty pond," a caring doctor who tried to wean Jackson from his self-destructive habits in the days before his June 2009 death.
The unorthodox patient-doctor relationship is the subject of a never-before-seen documentary titled "Michael Jackson and The Doctor: A Fatal Friendship," shot with Murray's cooperation over the last two years.
A clip obtained by TMZ shows Murray sitting in a car outside Jackson's former Las Vegas mansion talking about their early bond and the "Thriller" singer's constant battle with paparazzi.
"We escaped many a time, actually in this said vehicle," Murray recalls on camera. "He would climb into the backseat and lay low and tell security, 'Don't follow.' My heart pounded a little bit, but he liked those risks."
Produced by October Films with director Tom Roberts, the doc is expected to air on NBC in the U.S. and Channel 4 in the U.K.
The film producers reportedly secured an exclusive deal with Murray in late 2009, even before he was charged, and continued to record with him during the trial - as his fate hung in the balance.
Murray's financial cut was not disclosed.
"The film also explores the private and surreal world of Jackson where the controversial use of powerful medication was a was of life, where a man adored by millions lived as a virtual recluse, where an unknown cardiologist from Texas found himself the unexpected companion, confidante and intimate to one of the most famous men in the world," reads a statement from distributor Zodiak Rights.
ndillon@nydailynews.com
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