Jackson’s mother seeks retrial over pop icon’s death

Michael Jackson. AP FILE PHOTO

LOS ANGELES, United States – Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine is seeking a retrial against tour promoters AEG Live, who were found not liable over the pop icon’s 2009 death, court documents show.

The 83-year-old claims the verdict reached in October after a five-month trial in Los Angeles is invalid because of alleged jury misconduct, new evidence and “an error in law,” according to a legal filing Monday.

The Jackson matriarch sued AEG Live in 2010 claiming they negligently hired and supervised Conrad Murray, the doctor subsequently convicted of involuntary manslaughter over the “Thriller” singer’s death on June 25, 2009.

Jackson died from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol, given by Murray at the star’s rented mansion in Los Angeles, where he was rehearsing for the shows at London’s O2 Arena.

In the civil trial which began in April the singer’s mother – who gave testimony, as did his eldest son Prince, 16 – alleged that AEG Live missed a series of red flags about the star’s failing health in the run-up to his death.

The Jacksons wanted AEG Live to pay $85 million to each of the star’s three children for emotional loss, and an unspecified amount for economic losses, estimated at up to $1.6 billion. AEG’s lawyers called the figures ridiculous.

On October 3 the six-man, six-woman jury found that, although AEG Live hired Murray, he was not unfit or incompetent for the job he was hired to do, a key requirement for the Jackson lawsuit to have succeeded.

On Monday this week her lawyers filed a two-page petition Monday at the LA Superior Court seeking a retrial, on the basis of affidavits, declarations and citations of the law.

The documents gave no further details, and no date has been set for a hearing on the motion.

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 ravaged, and he desperately needed to make money.