Court tentatively rejects Jackson trial
Anthony McCartney AP January 4, 2014, 7:36 pm
A judge has tentatively ruled out a new trial in a negligence case filed by Michael Jackson's mother claiming a concert promoter was financially liable for the singer's death.
Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos did not immediately finalise the ruling on Friday after hearing more than two hours of arguments from lawyers.
A jury in October rejected Katherine Jackson's lawsuit claiming AEG Live LLC negligently hired the doctor convicted of giving her son an overdose of anaesthetic in 2009.
Her lawyers argued the verdict form didn't allow jurors to fully consider evidence in the case.
However, lawyers for AEG Live countered that there was no basis for a new trial.
Palazuelos did not indicate when she would finalise her ruling.
If she stands by it, Katherine Jackson's lawyers could pursue an appeal with a higher state court.
Jurors heard more than five months of evidence in the lawsuit trial.
Katherine Jackson sued AEG Live on behalf of herself and her son's three children, accusing the concert promoter of hiring Dr Conrad Murray and creating a conflict of interest in his care of the pop superstar.
Murray, who was deeply in debt, expected to be paid $US150,000 (about $A170,000) a month to care for Jackson while the singer prepared for a planned series of comeback concerts in London.
Jackson died on June 25, 2009, after receiving an overdose of propofol, which Murray was giving Jackson as a sleep aid.
Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 and released in October after serving two years in jail.
Throughout AEG Live's trial, the promoters denied any wrongdoing and said there was no way executives could have known that Murray was giving Jackson propofol in the bedroom of his rented mansion.
