October 3, 2013 -- Updated 0235 GMT (1035 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Jackson family says the truth was found, it is considering legal options
- The jury said AEG had hired Dr. Conrad Murray but was not liable for Jackson's death
- Juror says they believed Murray was capable, but not ethical
- AEG CEO says Jackson was friend, but his company wasn't part of 'tragic death'
The jury decided that
Murray was competent, so even though AEG Live hired him, it was not
liable for Jackson's death and didn't owe the Jackson family millions of
dollars in compensation.
"I counted Michael
Jackson a creative partner and a friend," the company's CEO Randy
Phillips said. "We lost one of the world's greatest musical geniuses,
but I am relieved and deeply grateful that the jury recognized that
neither I, nor anyone else at AEG Live, played any part in Michael's
tragic death."
The verdict brings the five-month-long trial to a close.
"We have said from the
beginning that this case was a search for the truth. We found the truth.
AEG hired Dr. Conrad Murray, the man who is in jail for killing Michael
Jackson," according to a statement from family matriarch Katherine
Jackson and her lawyers. "All options regarding the balance of the jury
verdict are being considered."
Jury: AEG not to blame for Dr. Murray
Jury: AEG not negligent in Jackson death
The jury accepted AEG
Live lawyers' arguments that the company was not negligent because its
executives had no way of knowing that Murray -- licensed to practice in
four states and never sued for malpractice -- was a risk to Jackson. The
singer was a secretive drug addict who kept even his closest relatives
in the dark about his use of propofol to sleep, they contended.
Jackson's mother and the
singer's three children sued AEG Live in 2010, arguing that the
company's negligence in hiring, retaining or supervising Murray was a
factor in the singer's June 25, 2009, death.
Jackson died of an
overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol, which Murray told
investigators he was using to treat the singer's insomnia so he could
rest for rehearsals. Murray is set to be released from jail later this
month after serving two years for involuntary manslaughter.
Jackson died just days
before his comeback tour -- promoted and produced by AEG Live -- was set
to debut in London in the summer of 2009.
"We felt (Murray) was
competent" to be Jackson's general practitioner, said juror Greg Barden.
"That doesn't mean we felt he was ethical."
Barden said jurors
thought the second question -- which said, "Was Dr. Conrad Murray unfit
or incompetent to perform the work for which he was hired?" -- was
confusing and took some time, and several votes, to work out. In the
end, they voted 10-2 to answer "No."
He said one of the key pieces of evidence was the contract between Murray and AEG.
"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," attorney Marvin Putnam said
in a written statement.
Murray's lawyer, Valerie Wass, let out a gasp when she heard the decision and was visibly shaken.
Because jurors concluded
that AEG Live was not liable, they did not consider other questions on
the verdict form that would have determined how much in damages the
promoter would have paid Katherine, Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson.
Jackson lead lawyer
Brian Panish suggested a range between $1 billion and $2 billion to
replace the earnings lost by Jackson's death at age 50 and the
non-economic -- or personal -- damages from the loss of a father and
son.
The damage award,
however, would have been reduced by the percentage of blame jurors
decided Michael Jackson shared in his death. The Jacksons lawyer
suggested in closing arguments that they assign 20% of the liability to
Jackson.
AEG's lawyers had
contended Jackson chose Murray, who had treated him for three years as a
family physician, but Jackson lawyers had argued the promoters chose to
negotiate their own contract with the doctor so they could control him.
The case is unlikely to
end with the jury's verdict because Jackson lawyers have said they have
grounds for an appeal, which could take years to decide.
Jurors appeared engaged
and entertained during the 21-week trial that included dramatic
testimony by Jackson's mother, son and former wife.
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