Michael Jackson: Family lose case against AEG Live
The family of Michael Jackson has lost a negligence case against concert promoters AEG Live over the death of the 50-year-old pop star.
A jury concluded the doctor looking after Jackson ahead of his concert tour was not unfit for his job - and so AEG had not been negligent in hiring him.
Jackson died in 2009 after taking an overdose of a surgical anaesthetic.
Dr Conrad Murray was jailed for four years for involuntary manslaughter for administering the drug.
To reach its verdict, the jury of six men and six women had to go through five key yes-no questions seeking to establish whether AEG was responsible for Murray's hiring in the first place and concerning his competence for the job.
The jury decided that AEG Live did hire Murray but found that he was not unfit or incompetent for the job.
Delivering the verdict, jury foreman Gregg Barden said: "That doesn't mean we felt he was ethical."
The ruling was welcomed by AEG Live, who argued that they hired Murray at the request of Jackson and had no knowledge of the star's drug dependency.
"I counted Michael Jackson a creative partner and a friend," said AEG Live executive Randy Phillips, who had testified at the trial.
"We lost one of the world's greatest musical geniuses, but I am relieved and deeply grateful that the jury recognised that neither I, nor anyone else at AEG Live, played any part in Michael's tragic death."
Jackson's 83-year-old mother Katherine was in court for the verdict, and appeared emotional as it was read out, Reuters news agency reports.
Her lawyer, Kevin Boyle, said the family was "of course.. not happy with the result as it stands now. We will be exploring all options legally and factually and make a decision about anything at a later time."
In closing arguments, the Jackson lawyers had suggested the damages they were seeking could exceed $1bn - amounts AEG Live had described as "absurd".
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿