Conrad Murray is a Threat to Public Safety, Says Judge Denying Bail

Michael Jackson's physician Dr. Conrad Murray, who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, has been placed on suicide watch while he waits for his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for Nov. 29.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, who denied the defense their request for bail for Murray, said he decided against granting bail because he considered the doctor a threat to public safety.

This is not a crime involving a mistake of judgment, Pastor said, This was a crime where the end result was the death of a human being. The judge went on to describe Murray's actions, which led to the death of the troubled singer, as reckless.

Dr. Murray has been convicted of a felony. The jury found him guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and they did so unanimously, Pastor added.

Defense lawyer Nareg Gourjian told the Los Angeles Times that although Murray was devastated by the guilty verdict, he was confident of winning an appeal.

The jail authorities will grant Murray the status of keep away inmate, meaning the doctor will be kept in isolation, in an effort to assure his safety when behind bars. In addition, Murray will be given a separate cell, be allowed to shower alone and not be allowed to mingle with other inmates, TMZ reported.

What matters most right now is trying to keep Dr. Murray from taking up a prison cell in this community, lead defense lawyer Ed Chernoff said, That's what we're focusing on right now and we'll deal with an appeal after that.

A law enforcement source, who spoke to the Los Angeles Times on the condition of anonymity, said Murray was placed on suicide watch once in custody.

Chernoff and Gourjian said they were not surprised by the verdict and added that it could have all been different had they been able to present better evidence on Jackson's past drug use and financial condition.

I think what went wrong was a lot of the pretrial rulings that were made by the court in reference to some of the evidence that we planned to offer for the jury to consider, Gourjian told CNN's Piers Morgan, I think that's essentially what denied Dr. Murray a fair trial in this case.