Concert Promoter AEG Live Not Responsible for Michael Jackson’s Death, Jury Rules
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MichaelJackson.com(LOS ANGELES) — After less than a week of deliberation, the jury in Michael Jackson’s family’s wrongful death suit against AEG Live ruled in favor of the concert promotion company.
The King of Pop’s mother, Katherine, and his three children — Prince, Paris and Blanket — sued the concert promoter in 2010, claiming that the company was negligent in hiring Dr. Conrad Murray. In 2011, Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for administering a fatal dose of propofol.
While the jury agreed that AEG Live had indeed hired Dr. Conrad Murray, it rejected the claim that he was “unfit or incompetent to perform the work for which he was hired.”
In a statement, lawyers for the concert promoter said, “The jury’s decision completely vindicates AEG Live, confirming what we have known from the start—that although Michael Jackson’s death was a terrible tragedy, it was not a tragedy of AEG Live’s making.”
Jackson family attorney Brian Panish said, “We are disappointed by the verdict but respect the jury system.”
The jury began deliberating last Thursday, and it reached a verdict after 13 hours and 44 minutes, spaced over four days.
Before the case was handed over to the jury, Jackson family attorney Brian Panish invoked the names of the singer’s three kids and his mother in declaring, “The fate of Prince Michael, Paris, Blanket and Katherine Jackson is in your hands and I know you’ll do the right thing.”
The verdict came on the 90th day of the trial.
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