USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文双语Français
Lifestyle
Home / Lifestyle / Celebrities

Jury clears promoter of liability in Michael Jackson's death

Agencies | Updated: 2013-10-04 10:52

MURRAY WAS 'COMPETENT'

In explaining the verdict outside court, jury foreman Gregg Barden said jurors had concluded that Murray was competent for the job he was hired to do.

"We felt he was competent to do the job of general practitioner," said Barden, who works for the Los Angeles Unified School District. "Now that doesn't mean that we thought he was ethical, and maybe had the word ethical been in the question, it could have been a different outcome."

Juror Kevin Smith, 61, who works for Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, added: "If AEG had known what was going on behind closed doors it would probably have made a world of difference, but they didn't."

Murray, who was caring for Jackson as the singer rehearsed for his series of 50 comeback "This Is It" concerts, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 for administering the propofol that killed the star. He is in a California prison and is expected to be released later this month.

Jackson family lawyer Kevin Boyle said outside court that attorneys and the family were "of course not happy" with Wednesday's verdict.

"We will be exploring all options, legally and factually," Boyle said.

Jackson fan Julia Thomas, who has been at the courthouse every day for the past five months, said she thought the jurors did not properly understand the second question on the verdict form, which asked if Murray was "unfit or incompetent to perform the work for which he was hired."

"Most of us are shocked," Thomas said. "It's almost like a dream. I think the question went way over their heads. I think it was a trick question."

Related:

Jury clears promoter of liability in Michael Jackson's death

Jury clears promoter of liability in Michael Jackson's death

MJ verdict could shake up business model

Michael Jackson's ex-wife says daughter Paris is 'devastated'

Michael Jackson's teen daughter attempts suicide - mother

Michael Jackson's ex-wife says doctors took advantage of singer

Artists pay tribute to MJ at 'Michael Forever'

Defense criticizes Jackson crime scene investigation

Dr. Conrad Murray's trial opens in LA

Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US