LOS ANGELES, June 29 (Reuters) - The Los Angeles coroner's office on Monday dismissed as inaccurate a British newspaper report that said Michael Jackson was emaciated and almost bald when he died suddenly last week.
As the Jackson family clan gathered in Los Angeles to consider funeral details befitting the worldwide outpouring of affection for the "King of Pop," the singer's mother filed court papers seeking custody of his three children.
Katherine Jackson asked the Los Angeles Superior court to appoint her guardian of Prince Michael, 12, Paris Katherine, 11, and Prince Michael II, 7, saying they have "no relationship with their biological mother."
The first two are Jackson's children from his ex-wife Debbie Rowe and the third from an unidentified surrogate mother. A hearing was set for Aug. 3.
Two inconclusive autopsies have been carried out on Jackson -- one by the Los Angeles County Coroner's office and one by a private pathologist. Toxicology tests are expected to take several weeks.
Jackson, 50, died suddenly of cardiac arrest at his rented Los Angeles home on Thursday, just a few weeks before a planned string of 50 comeback concerts in London.
Assistant chief coroner Ed Winter said on Monday details reported in the British Sun tabloid about Jackson's condition did not come from either the private or the county autopsy.
"I don't know where that information came from, or who that information came from. It is not accurate. Some of it is totally false," Winters told reporters.
Claiming it had seen a leaked autopsy report, The Sun said Jackson was wearing a wig when he died to cover his "peach fuzz" hair, weighed only about 112 pounds (51 kg), that his hips, thighs and shoulders were riddled with needle wounds, and that his stomach was empty apart from partially dissolved pills.
WORLDWIDE TRIBUTE
Jackson admitted in 1993 that he had an addiction to painkillers, but he had recently passed a lengthy medical exam ahead of the London concerts.
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton met with the family in Los Angles on Monday to discuss a worldwide tribute to Jackson and plans for preserving a legacy that changed the shape of music videos and influenced a new generation of R&B singers.
"I'm here to make sure Michael gets in death what he never got in life -- he never got credit," Sharpton told reporters after arriving in Los Angeles, where he attended the Black Entertainment Television awards with Jackson's father Joe.
Joe Jackson told reporters on Sunday that funeral arrangements for the King of Pop were still being discussed but a family friend said services could take place on Wednesday and the body could be buried at Jackson's famous Neverland Ranch in central California.
Tension over Jackson's mysterious death surfaced at the BET Awards, which became a tribute to the singer's musical genius. Some stars bristled over media coverage of Jackson's downward spiral during the last decade, filled with accusations of child molestation and bizarre behavior.
Los Angeles police said after questioning Jackson's personal doctor over the weekend that they did not consider him to be a suspect. Dr. Conrad Murray, who was at Jackson's side when he died, told police he did not inject the singer with painkillers before his cardiac arrest on Thursday. (Editing by Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Source: Reuters
By Jill Serjeant
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