Word of the Day: "Homicide" is a Medical Term?

Continuing in the "words have meaning" theme from yesterday, it has been ruled that the unfortunate death of Michael Jackson was a homicide.

Interesting, but looking up the word "homicide" on the Internets gives every indication that it is a word indigenous to the practice of law, not medicine, let alone forensics. I thought medical examiners determined what killed someone, and that it was up to the legal system to determine who, for instance, put deady chemicals into the body of a the deceased.

I have friends who are prosecutors and judges who I love dearly, but this is a teeny-tiny shift in, if not the legal burden of proof, then the war for public opinion.