LOS ANGELES, California -Michael Jackson still had a faint pulse and his body was warm when his doctor found him in bed and not breathing, a lawyer for the doctor told The Associated Press yesterday.

Lawyer Edward Chernoff also said Dr Conrad Murray never prescribed or gave Jackson the drugs Demerol or OxyContin. He denied reports suggesting Murray gave Jackson drugs that contributed to his death.

Chernoff told the AP that Murray was at the pop icon’s rented mansion on Thursday afternoon when he discovered Jackson in bed and not breathing. The doctor immediately began administering CPR, Chernoff said.

“He just happened to find him in his bed, and he wasn’t breathing,” the lawyer said. “Mr Jackson was still warm and had a pulse”.

Chernoff said any drugs the doctor gave Jackson were prescribed in response to a specific complaint from the 50-year-old.

“Dr Murray has never prescribed nor administered Demerol to Michael Jackson,” Chernoff said. “Not ever. Not that day. …Not Oxycontin (either) for that matter”.

Paramedics were called to the mansion while the doctor was performing CPR, according to a recording of the 911 call. Medics spent three-quarters of an hour trying to revive Jackson. He was pronounced dead later at UCLA Medical Center.

In an interview that aired earlier yesterday, Jackson’s father said he does not believe stress over the intense series of concerts the King of Pop planned for his comeback led to his death.

Joe Jackson also said he believes his son will be larger in death than he was in life. The patriarch of the Jackson 5 said he wished Michael Jackson was around to see the outpouring of affection since his death.

“Michael was the biggest superstar in the world and in history,” Joe Jackson told Fox News Channel’s “Geraldo at Large.” “He was loved by everybody, whether poor or wealthy or whatever may be”.

Michael Jackson was to begin a strenuous series of 50 concerts in London in July.

Three days after the pop icon died, celebrities descended on Los Angeles for what promised to be a spectacular celebration of Jackson’s life at the annual BET awards show.

Media requests for the Sunday night show doubled following the death, and the red carpet was lengthened. It was not immediately clear whether any members of the Jackson family, who gathered at their Encino compound over the weekend, planned to take part.

Previously announced performers including Beyoncé and Ne-Yo, were working to overhaul performances they had planned for weeks so they could honour Jackson. Other stars who had not planned to attend, including Usher and Justin Timberlake, tried to catch last-minute flights, producers said.