Conrad Murray, the doctor convicted of killing Michael Jackson,was released from jail Monday after serving nearly two years of a four-year sentence.
Murray was released from a downtown Los Angeles jail at 12:01 a.m., according to the sheriff's office. The former cardiologist was convicted in 2011 of causing Jackson's death in June 2009 by providing the superstar with an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid.
Murray's prospects are uncertain: At age 60 his license to practice medicine has been suspended or revoked in three states and his face and name are well known due to his association with Jackson and his highly publicized involuntary manslaughter trial. The former doctor is appealing his conviction, although an appeals court has questioned whether it needs to hear the case.
RApper pleads no contest: Rapper 50 Cent has been sentenced to three years of probation after pleading no contest to vandalism in a case filed after an alleged fight with his ex-girlfriend earlier this year. Los Angeles City Attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan said the performer, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, was ordered on Monday to pay $7,100 in restitution and take year of domestic violence classes. Jackson had previously pleaded not guilty to destroying items in his ex-girlfriend's condo during a June argument. The woman had accused Jackson of breaking down a door and kicking her, but the domestic violence charge was dropped.
Brooks plans live-tv broadcast: Country music star Garth Brooks is taking his intimate one-man Las Vegas show to live television. A news release issued Monday says CBS will broadcast Brooks' performance at the Wynn Las Vegas live on Nov. 29. Brooks came out of retirement in 2009 for a series of occasional gigs at Steve Wynn's invitation. Brooks formally ended that run after three years but has played occasionally since then. Brooks has mostly been out of music since 2001, when he became a stay-at-home dad. But fans remain fervent, helping to set a record viewership for the Academy of Country Music Awards earlier this year when Brooks performed with George Strait.
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