Jackson's death certificate leaves cause unknown

[July 08, 2009]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Michael Jackson's death certificate has been released without a listed cause of death and a coroner said investigators are still testing the singer's brain.

Public health officials issued the death certificate on Tuesday, the same day public and private memorials were held in Los Angeles. The cause of death is listed as "deferred."

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said Jackson's brain, or at least part of it, was still being held by investigators and would be returned to the family for interment once neuropathology tests were completed.

"As soon as we are done with the brain, we will return it," Winter said. "There is a whole series of tests that will be done."

It is not uncommon for the coroner to hold on to a brain or samples from it. Winter said families sometimes delay burying a loved one until after the brain has been returned, but he had received no word from the Jackson family about their intentions.

"The last I heard, they are not burying the body yet," Winter said.

Police and coroner's officials continue to probe what killed the 50-year-old singer on June 25.

On the certificate, Jackson's occupation is listed as a musician. He is described as a high school graduate and divorced. The information provided for the document was given by Jackson's sister, La Toya, one of several family members who rushed to the hospital where Jackson was pronounced dead.

The document doesn't state where Jackson will be buried.

[Associated Press]

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