Celebrity Mound

Michael Jackson’s father refiled a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday against the doctor charged in his son’s death and added as a defendant a Las Vegas pharmacy that records show sold the physician a powerful anesthetic blamed for his death.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages against Dr. Conrad Murray, who has pleaded not guilty in the separate criminal case to involuntary manslaughter in the singer’s June 2009 death.

Joe Jackson initially filed his case against Murray in federal court on the first anniversary of his son’s death. A judge, however, refused to hear the case and said it should be handled in state court, where it was refiled Tuesday.

“This has been a long process and the facts of Michael’s death have been way too slow in emerging,” said Joe Jackson’s attorney, Brian Oxman. “There is still much to discover and we’re going to find it out.”

The lawsuit also names Applied Pharmacy Services, which court records show sold Murray the anesthetic propofol during the month before the singer’s death. The pharmacy is accused of selling Murray excessive quantities of the anesthetic, which is normally administered in hospital settings.

Authorities have said the sale was legal.

A receptionist at Applied Pharmacy Services declined comment and refused to give her name. Miranda Sevcik, a Murray spokeswoman, said the refiling of the case was expected.

“We’d like to remind people that Dr. Murray has not been found guilty of anything, and we believe his innocence will be proven in a court of law,” Charles Peckham, an attorney for Murray, said in June when the case was initially filed.

The Los Angeles County coroner has blamed Jackson’s death on propofol intoxication and ruled it a homicide.

Applied Pharmacy’s sales of propofol to Murray were revealed in search warrants unsealed in Las Vegas in November 2009. At the time, authorities said a doctor licensed in two states can buy propofol in one and administer it in another.

Murray is licensed in California, Nevada and Texas – all of which have restricted his medical license to some extent since the allegations surfaced in the death of Jackson.

Attorneys for Murray have said he did not give Jackson anything that should have killed him.

Joe Jackson’s lawsuit claims Murray was negligent in administering propofol to Jackson, and he did not tell paramedics or an emergency room doctor that he had given the singer the drug.

The case could be consolidated with a lawsuit filed by Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine, against concert promoter AEG Live.

That suit claims AEG and its agents told Michael Jackson the company would provide medical equipment and hire Murray to care for him as he prepared for comeback concerts in London.

AEG has said through an attorney that Katherine Jackson’s lawsuit is without merit.

An appeals court will hear arguments Wednesday on whether Michael Jackson’s father should be allowed to challenge the administrators of his son’s already lucrative estate.

Joe Jackson has appealed a probate court’s dismissal of his objections to the appointment of attorney John Branca and music executive and family friend John McClain to oversee the pop singer’s estate.

A judge ruled in November that the elder Jackson did not have standing to intervene in the case and was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing to contest the administrators.

Such a hearing would allow Joe Jackson’s attorney, Brian Oxman, to air complaints about potential conflicts of interest and the validity of the pop singer’s 2002 will, which specifically omitted his father from receiving any money.

Attorneys for Michael Jackson’s estate have noted the probate court’s findings against the elder Jackson, and said in motions to the appeals court that the ruling came after considering Oxman’s arguments in the most favorable light.

Oxman was also allowed to argue at length during the November hearing, the estate also said in its filings.

The attorney raised issues on behalf of Joe Jackson after the singer’s mother, Katherine, dropped any of her potential objections to the appointment of Branca and McClain. Katherine Jackson and her son’s three children are the primary beneficiaries of the singer’s estate, which has earned tens of millions since his death at age 50 in June 2009.

The estate also noted that Joe Jackson sought a stipend, but later chose to withdraw that request. The Jackson family patriarch has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against Conrad Murray, the doctor charged in connection with his son’s death.

Murray’s lawyers have asked a judge to dismiss that case, arguing in part that Joe Jackson doesn’t have the right to sue for wrongful death.

Michael Jackson’s father Joe blames his wife Katherine Jackson for the singer’s death – because he’s convinced she could have prevented his prescription drug addiction.

Joe Jackson has opened up about the King of Pop’s passing in an interview with a British tabloid, insisting he begged Katherine to speak to the singer and help him overcome his personal issues.

But he claims she refused to follow his request and he’s adamant Michael would still be alive now if she had.

Speaking to Britain’s News of the World, he says, “Katherine was weeping uncontrollably and highly upset (when Michael died). But I didn’t give her a hug because I was mad at her crying. I said, ‘If you had listened to me Michael would be living now!’ I kept thinking about the times I had stood in front of her saying something was wrong. I couldn’t bottle up my feelings. Katherine didn’t say a word – I had to get away from her. If she’d done what I asked Michael would be here today. I am incensed with her. She could have made a difference.”

And Joe Jackson regrets not helping the Thriller hitmaker more: “I didn’t shed any tears, but maybe I should have. I just felt furious that my son was gone. In Michael’s final months alive I said to her (Katherine) many times that I couldn’t get through to him – and that she needed to help her son. I had begged her to go over and stay with him, but she insisted he needed his privacy and gave him the slack she thought he needed. A child will listen to his mother more than his father – and Michael was a mummy’s boy. He listened to her. I still haven’t been able to talk about it to her as she doesn’t want to hear what I have to say… He knew I loved him. I regret that I didn’t say goodbye properly.”

A judge is scheduled to decide whether Michael Jackson’s father should receive medical records related to his superstar son’s death.

Joe Jackson’s attorney issued a subpoena last month seeking all his son’s medical records from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where Michael Jackson died on June 25.

His attorney, Brian Oxman, sought the files as part of an effort to obtain a monthly stipend for the Jackson family patriarch. He says his client has a right to know more about his son’s death and the records could also determine whether they pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.

Attorneys for Michael Jackson’s estate want the judge to quash the subpoenas and argue they violate privacy rights and are not relevant to the allowance request. If they win, they want Oxman and Joe Jackson to pay nearly $9,000 in legal fees.

Oxman says Joe Jackson will not attend Thursday’s hearing.