Katherine Jackson seeks new trial in AEG wrongful death case

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Michael Jackson fans from left, Karlene Taylor, Yvonne Francis, Latrenda White and Jamie Lee, speak out against AEG Live. A jury found Wednesday that AEG Live was not liable in the death of the pop superstar. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Jury foreman Gregg Barden, center, listens to a reporter’s question about their verdict in the civil trial over the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Katherine Jackson and three grandchildren against AEG Live in the death of singer Michael Jackson. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos gathers the verdict documents moments before they were publicly disclosed. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Attorneys for Katherine Jackson, Deborah Chang, left and Kevin Boyle listen as jurors are polled following the verdict in the civil trial that lasted for five months. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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AEG attorney Marvin Putnam smiles during verdict polling at the conclusion of the Katherine Jackson v. AEG Live civil trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The jury found AEG not liable in Michael Jackson’s death. AEG attorney Jessica Stebbins Bina is at left. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, left, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, speaks with Kathryn Cahan and Marvin Putnam, attorneys with AEG Live LLC ,in Los Angeles County Superior Court in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death trial Thursday in downtown Los Angeles. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Bailiffs are sworn in to protect the jury as Brian Panish, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, waits during the trial in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday. The singer’s family has sued the entertainment firm AEG Live LLC, saying the company negligently hired and supervised Conrad Murray, the doctor who administered the dose of propofol that killed the singer. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, an attorney for the Michael Jackson family, delivers his closing argument to jurors in a packed courtroom in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 24. The promoters of Michael Jackson’s last tour were “so excited” about making huge profits that they hired an unfit doctor to care for the star, his family’s lawyer said. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Marvin Putnam, lead attorney for AEG Live LLC and co-counsel Jessica Stebbins-Bina, listen to closing arguments by Michael Jackson family’s attorney, Brian Panish, in a packed courtroom Sept. 24. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Panish, attorney for the Michael Jackson family, delivers his closing argument to jurors in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death lawsuit against concert promoter AEG Live LLC on Sept. 24. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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AEG attorney Marvin Putnam gives closing arguments in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case on Sept. 25. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos listens to a rebuttal argument in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case on Sept. 26. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson’s former wife and mother of two of his children, leaves Los Angeles County Superior Court after testifying at the trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, against AEG Live. (Nick Ut / Associated Press)

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Television crews report live outside Los Angeles County Superior Court in downtown Los Angeles on the first day of the trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit. (Joe Klamar / AFP/Getty Images)

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In this file photo dated Sept. 27, 2011, Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine Jackson arrives outside Los Angeles County Superior Court to hear opening statement in the involuntary manslaughter trial of pop superstar Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. Murray was convicted and sentenced to prison. (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)

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Singer Janet Jackson, left, Paris Katherine Jackson, Prince Michael Jackson II and LaToya Jackson are seen on stage during the memorial service for Michael Jackson at Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, 2009. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

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Entertainer Michael Jackson announces on March 5, 2009, that he will play a series of comeback concerts at the London O2 Arena in July. Jackson died before the concerts could be held. (Joel Ryan / Associated Press)

By Jeff Gottlieb

Jan. 3, 2014 8:09 AM PT

Katherine Jackson is heading back to court Friday to ask a judge for a new trial in the family’s wrongful-death case against AEG Live, which previously ended with jurors finding the concert promoter not liable for her son Michael Jackson’s overdose death.

Her motion came after four jurors gave sworn statements that they found the verdict form confusing.

The 12 jurors had to answer yes to five questions in order to find AEG liable.

PHOTOS: Michael Jackson | 1958-2009

Jurors agreed that AEG Live had hired Dr. Conrad Murray, who administered the fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol to Jackson.

But they rejected the second question, which asked whether Murray was unfit or incompetent, ending deliberations.

The Jacksons’ attorneys argue that the verdict form only allowed jurors to focus on Murray’s fitness when he was hired, not “during the course of the relationship” with the pop star.

MICHAEL JACKSON: Complete trial coverage

“There is no question in my mind that AEG Live was liable,” one juror said in a declaration filed with the motion.

Another juror said, “I believed that Mrs. Jackson had proven her case against AEG Live. Despite this fact, I had no way of voting in favor of the plaintiffs because of the way the verdict form was worded.”

A third juror wrote that “some of the jurors were stunned and upset after learning that we had to stop deliberations after answering ‘no’ to Question 2.”

After the verdict, the jury foreman told reporters that panel members were somewhat confused by the question about Murray’s competence but understood its ramifications.

“We felt he was competent,” Gregg Barden said.

“That doesn’t mean we felt he was ethical. If ethical was in the question, it might have been a different outcome,” the foreman said.

In a statement to The Times after the motion was filed last month, AEG attorney Marvin Putnam called it “an act of pure desperation.”

“Katherine Jackson just can’t accept that her son is gone and that there is no one left that she can blame, well, aside from Dr. Murray, obviously,” Putnam said. “The evidence at trial and the verdict told her just that. This long trial showed us — and her — that Michael Jackson had abused and demanded propofol, the drug that killed him, for decades.”

The Jacksons argued during the five-month trial that AEG Live negligently hired and supervised Murray.

AEG said that Murray worked for Jackson and that any money the company was supposed to pay the doctor was an advance to the singer.

Putnam also noted that the juror affidavits were not admissable under California law. And even if they were, he said only two of the four jurors indicated they would have changed their answers on the forms -- not enough to change the outcome of the verdict.

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jeff.gottlieb@latimes.com