In the rockiest start to a criminal prosecution ever .... we're now told that Dr. Conrad Murray's lawyers plan on holding a news conference near the courthouse where Dr. Murray was set to be arraigned today in the death of Michael Jackson.

We're told attorneys Ed Chernoff and J. Michael Flanagan will publicly complain that they have become pawns in a feud between the L.A. County D.A. and the LAPD.

Although Chernoff's publicist told TMZ this morning Dr. Murray will come to the courthouse ... it's unclear if he'll be at the news conference.

Unless things change in the next hour, criminal charges will not be filed against Dr. Murray today.

TMZ broke the story about the feud between the D.A. and the LAPD over how Dr. Murray is brought to court. The D.A. was working with Murray's lawyers for a voluntary surrender ... the LAPD wants to place him under arrest and bring him into court.

Of course, TMZ will cover the news conference live ... we're guessing it should go down around 1:30 PM PT.

UPDATE: Ed Chernoff just confirmed the news conference, but said due to "safety concerns" it will be held at a park 12 blocks from the courthouse. He did not say if Dr. Murray will be there.

UPDATE 2: A spokesman for the Sheriff's Department confirms the press conference will be moved, but says there were no "safety concerns."

UPDATE: 3: We called the park where the news conference was supposed to go down and the park person said he was contacted by someone and told them they absolutely could not have a news conference there because a permit had not been taken out.