LOS ANGELES: The doctor convicted of killing Michael Jackson must stay in jail pending his appeal because he might flee if allowed out on bail, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Friday.

Los Angeles Superior Court judge Michael Pastor turned down Dr. Conrad Murray's request to be released until his involuntary manslaughter conviction appeal is heard.

Pastor said on Friday he believed Murray, who was born in Grenada and worked in both Las Vegas and Texas before being hired to care for the pop singer in 2009, is a flight risk.

Murray, 59, began serving a four-year jail term in November last year after being convicted by a jury of the involuntary manslaughter of the "Thriller" singer.

The physician admitted giving Jackson sedatives and a dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol to help him sleep on the morning of his June 25, 2009 death, but the doctor denied criminal negligence.

Murray, who was not in court for Friday's hearing, had asked for bail, house arrest or electronic monitoring pending his appeal, which he said could take more than a year to be heard.

But prosecutors argued that he could flee California, was a danger to the community and had shown no remorse for his part in Jackson's death.