Michael Jackson: AEG cleared

The procession following the death of Michael Jackson continues to march grimly forward, yesterday reaching a key point where a jury decided that AEG weren't responsible for killing him by hiring Conrad Murray.

The New York Times reports:

A California jury decided on Wednesday that Michael Jackson’s final concert promoter, A.E.G. Live, was not responsible for the pop star’s death.

After a five-month trial filled with gruesome details of Jackson’s last days, the case came down to basic questions of contractual relationships and the professional competence of Dr. Conrad Murray, the cardiologist who gave Jackson a fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol four years ago.

After deliberating for about 13 hours over four days, the jury of six men and six women agreed with lawyers for Jackson’s 83-year-old mother, Katherine, that A.E.G. Live had hired Dr. Murray. But they rejected arguments that the doctor was unfit to care for Jackson as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts.

It could have cost AEG USD1.5billion if they'd been found to be culpable. (That's roughly the annual GDP of Belize, if you'd like a meaningless but impressive comparison.)

Refreshingly, the jury decided to treat Michael Jackson as a grown-up who made his own poor decisions.

We're now in a curious place, where Murray is serving a sentence for the involuntary manslaughter of Jackson, but has been found fit to practice. The jury think they can make sense of that, though:

"We felt he was competent," [jury foreman 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. In the end, he was very unethical. He did something he shouldn’t have done. "

It's not entirely clear if someone who is unethical is fit to practice, but the jury seemed to think that wasokay.

Barden shakes his head sadly, though:

"There are really no winners in this ... Somebody had to die for us to be here.... It was really a tragic situation."

No winners? As the lawyers pack up and move on to Conrad Murray's appeal hearing, they might disagree, were they not struggling with suitcases packed with money.

Gordon in the morning: The ghost of a chance

To be fair, Gordon's not connected with the front page of the Sun today; it's down to Pete Samson, currently US editor of the - shall we call it - publication?.

You've probably already seen this, as the world has been convulsing with laughter at the final demise of the Sun as a newspaper since the first edition came out:

Yes, that's right. The Sun's big front page splash comes from a ghost.

And not just a ghost, but a ghost addressing a court via the medium of a former partner of Lionel Ritchie:

MICHAEL Jackson’s death has been declared an accident — by his own GHOST, a court heard.
Jacko, 50, was said to have told Lionel Richie’s ex Brenda that he inadvertently killed himself.

Being even-handed, the ghost of Larry Lamb has been in contact with us (via someone who once had their breasts brushed by Mark Morrison) to point out that it's not as if Pete Samson is claiming that he's had an interview with the moonwalking spectre, and in effect this is simply court reporting.

It's probable that the idea was to have a bit of a guffaw at the very idea that the CEO of AEG, Randy Philips, would trot this guff out under oath:

AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips stunned the wrongful death trial by claiming Jacko had insisted from beyond the grave that his death was an accident — and cleared Dr Murray.

He told jurors at Los Angeles County Superior Court: “Brenda called me to tell me that she was in communications with Michael, either through a medium or directly.

“She said Michael told her it wasn’t Dr Murray’s fault — that he had accidentally killed himself.”

Many in the court burst into laughter, but judge Yvette Palazuelos let the testimony STAND.

It's not clear why this testimony would have stood - it's not even second hand. And it comes from a ghost.

Unfortunately for Samson, his piece has been overpromoted to the front page and presented in such a way that makes it look like the paper believes Jackson's ghost is sending messages from beyond the grave.

And given the low-attention culture which The Sun has done a good part to foster, most people will go away with that impression, too.

Gordon in the morning: Chop job

Well, this piece from Stephen Moyes in today's Sun is pretty clear:

MICHAEL Jackson’s daughter has vowed to “karate chop” convicted doctor Conrad Murray to make him appear at the family’s trial.

Nothing like making a daughter's distress at a doctor refusing to help her understand her father's very public death into a cartoon.

But still, if you're going to do this, you'd have a good reason for doing it, right? So, where does the 'karate chop' quote come from?

A source said: “Paris wants to kick Murray’s butt. She wants him to explain what pressure he was under to make Michael perform. When she gives evidence she plans to tear him apart.”

Oddly, this unnamed source doesn't even use the words "karate chop", and it's the only quote Moyes uses.

If we assume that there really is a source, and the quote is genuine, it's difficult to see where the karate chopping came from. (If the quote was just made up, that would have been even worse - forgetting to add the actual claim you're using as your headline into the substantiating article.)

There doesn't appear to be anything else on the web where Paris Jackson "vows" to "karate chop" anybody; references to her doing so just lead back to the Sun.

So: a 'news' story which totally fails to explain where this 'vow' was made. Good to see post-Leveson that things are changing at News International.

Gordon in the morning: Where do you hide a Justin Bieber?

There's something quite canny about Justin Bieber choosing to spend the night after the EMAs in a gay club in Belfast. I'm not sure it's the last place anyone would look for him, but it's probably not the first.

Although, frankly, it's unlikely any of his fans would find him in any nightclub at all, given they'd all be about ten years too young to get in to one.

Gordon, though, thinks there's another motive:

WHAT'S the best way to knock back rumours you've fathered a love child?

Go for a night out on the shandy at "Europe's hottest gay venue".

I'm not sure that would entirely clear you from a paternity suit, Gordon.

By the way: this morning's Sun front page on Conrad Murray: Thriller Killer. Keeping it classy.

Conrad Murray guilty; everyone else breathes a sigh of relief

So, with Conrad Murray being convicted of the manslaughter of Michael Jackson, it looks like all the other people who had a hand in pushing Jackson toward the exit have managed to swerve responsibility.

I hope if I ever build a fanbase, and die in terrible circumstances, my supporters don't turn up at the courtroom and turn the trial of those responsible into a circus.

One fan - part of the chanting crowd who turned the court precinct into a tailgate party - told BBC News that "we've got justice for Michael", seemingly convinced that they had done something. Granted, the man they held responsible for the death of their idol had been found guilty, but given that idol was still dead, what was the cheering and partying about? To be a Jackson fan in the 21st Century had meant separation from the pain of hard facts for quite a while, but surely even from that position you'd be able to see there are some things that shouldn't be treated as part of a show?

Joe Jackson explains his half billion claim... or tries to

Joe Jackson is bringing a half a billion dollars lawsuit against Michael Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray - presumably angry that if he managed to not kill Jackson, he doesn't see why Conrad did.

How did he come up with the half a billion figure?

His theory -- "The more you go, the less you get ... so I went high."

That doesn't really make any sense - if you think you get less if you ask for more, then wouldn't asking for an absurd amount be the wrong thing to do? Shouldn't Jackson be looking for $20, in order to get 100% of his demand?

In fact, given that the death of Jackson junior has allowed Joe to develop a lucrative Dead Michael business, shouldn't Murray be suing him for a share of the proceeds?

Jackson's doctor: He's had a long time to come up with an explanation

So, if I've got this straight, Conrad Murray's defence is going to be that he only made Jackson so completely groggy that when trying to self-medicate, it was Jackson who killed himself.

God alone knows what ideas he had on the notepads crossed out: "Jackson killed by cartoon raccoons"? "Jackson forgot he'd already had pie full of Propofol at tea time"? "Jackson's spleen must have been spontaneously pumping its own Propofol into his system, some how"? "LATOYA DID IT LATOYA LATOYA..."

Jackson's doctor just wants to say thank you

Given that whole being-implicated-in-the-death-of-his-most-famous-client business, Doctor Conrad Murray is having trouble keeping in touch with family, friends and people who don't believe he could have done anything wrong and could they just get a little extra demerol, doc?

So, he's done what any one of us would have done, and popped a video on YouTube to say sorry and thank you:

“I want to thank all of my patients and friends who have sent such kind e-mails, letters and messages to let me know of your support and prayers for me and my family. Because of all that is going on, I am afraid to return phone calls or use my e-mail. Therefore I recorded this video to let all of you know that I have been receiving your messages. I have not been able to thank you personally which as you know is not normal for me. Your messages give me strength and courage and keep me going. They mean the world to me.”

... oh, yeah, and the innocence thing. Being, you know, innocent of nearly everything - that keeps me going, too.