JOIN USSanta Clara County Superior Court Commissioner John Schroeder denied Dr Conrad Murray's request for a court order relieving Murray of an obligation to pay about USD 16,000 in back child support to the mother of his 12-year-old son.
"We didn't get the court order that we were seeking," Charles Peckham, a Houston lawyer representing Murray, told The Associated Press. "This puts Dr Murray's ability to pay future child support at risk, if the state of Nevada pulls his medical license."
A prosecutor in Las Vegas had said Nevada would stop efforts to revoke Murray's license for failure to pay the support if Murray got the Santa Clara court order approving the deal.
Murray, 57, has pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles to a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death. The cardiologist, with practises in Las Vegas and Houston, told Los Angeles police he administered the anesthetic propofol to Jackson for insomnia.
"Losing his medical license would jeopardise his legal defence," said Miranda Sevcik, a spokeswoman for Murray's Houston-based criminal attorney Edward Chernoff. "He'll essentially still be in the same creek but will lose his paddle."
Nenita Malibiran, the mother of Murray's child, offered to forgive Murray's back debt as long as he remained current with the payments of USD 1,003 a month he has been making since November, Peckham said.
However, Malibiran balked at a requirement by the California Department of Child Support Services that she also relieve the state agency of jurisdiction in the case, Peckham said.
John Vartanian, a chief attorney for the child services agency, said he couldn't discuss any specific cases. But he said giving up child support that is owed generally isn't in the best interest of a child.