Jury Decides against Wrongful Death Verdict in Jackson Case

I talked earlier about the deposition of the children of Michael Jackson as part of the wrongful death action brought by their maternal grandmother, Katherine Jackson after the death of her son, pop star Michael Jackson.

In early October, a California jury ruled against Mrs. Jackson and the children of Mr. Jackson. While the jury agreed with the plaintiff that A.E.G. Entertainment hired the doctor whose actions led to the death of Mr. Jackson, the jury found the company was not negligent in assuming Dr. Conrad Murray was professionally fit to care for Mr. Jackson.

Points about the case include the following:

• In 2011, Dr. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for administering a lethal dose of the drug Propofol to Mr. Jackson. Now that Dr. Murray has been released from jail, he plans to return to work as a physician if he can gain reinstatement of his medical license.
• Lawyers for A.E.G. Entertainment profiled Mr. Jackson as a classic drug abuser, manipulating nurses and doctors to obtain needed drugs. Although emails from A.E.G. Entertainment produced in court described Mr. Jackson as “the freak,” as a business decision, lead defense counsel stated A.E.G. “never would have agreed to finance this tour if it knew Michael Jackson was playing Russian roulette every night in his bedroom.”

In a statement that sums up the lawsuit, jury foreman Gregg Barden noted “[s]omebody had to die for us to be here. … It was really a tragic situation.” Lawyers for Mrs. Jackson state an appeal is possible.

If a loved one is killed due to the negligence of another in New York, speak with skilled legal counsel about the possibility of a wrongful death action.