Jury reaches verdict in Jackson wrongful death trial

The jury mulling whether tour promoters AEG Live should pay huge damages to Michael Jackson's family over his 2009 death has reached a verdict, a court spokeswoman has said.
The six-man, six-woman panel -- which has been meeting since Thursday afternoon after a five-month trial in Los Angeles -- deliberated for about three days, since last Thursday.
The verdict was due to be read out in court at 3:30 pm local time (0400 IST), said a spokeswoman yesterday, for the Los Angeles Superior Court, where the trial got under way in April.
Jackson died on June 25, 2009 from an overdose of the anaesthetic propofol given by doctor Conrad Murray at his rented mansion in Los Angeles, where he was rehearsing for the shows at London's O2 Arena.

Murray, a Grenada-born cardiologist, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in a criminal trial in 2011 for giving the drug to the star -- who suffered from chronic insomnia -- to help him sleep. Murray was jailed for four years.
In the civil trial, the singer's mother Katherine Jackson, 83, alleges that AEG Live negligently hired an inappropriate and incompetent doctor and missed a series of red flags about the star's failing health in the run-up to his death.

The "This is It" tour was Jackson's bid at a comeback four years after his infamous child molestation trial. He was acquitted, but his image was destroyed, and he desperately needed to make money.

The Jacksons want AEG Live to pay USD 85 million to each of the star's three children for emotional loss, and an unspecified amount for economic losses, estimated at up to USD 1.6 billion. AEG's lawyers called the figures ridiculous.
"Their dollar amount is USD 1.5 billion dollars ... I'm sorry, that's an absurd number. And they haven't even remotely proved it," said AEG Live lead counsel Marvin Putnam.
Jackson family lawyer Brian Panish, in his final appeal last Thursday, said AEG Live were trying to "hoodwink" the jury and shirk blame for the singer's demise.
"AEG Live is a money-making company," he said. "They didn't want to help Michael do a comeback. They wanted Michael so they could make money, and that's why they did it," he said.

"They think they can hoodwink you."
Observers have suggested that the longer the jurors deliberate, the more likely it is they may have found in favour of the Jackson family, which claims AEG Live negligently hired Conrad Murray, the physician convicted over the star's death.
This is because the juror verdict form starts with five key yes-no questions.