The family's wrongful-death action sought to make AEG legally responsible for Jackson's death. Their complaint alleged that concert pressure and the company's relationship with Murray endangered the singer. Those allegations explain why the case was brought; they are not findings that the promoter ordered unsafe treatment or intended a death. [1]
The jury's October 2, 2013 answers were unusually important. The recorded verdict says yes to whether AEG hired Murray, then no to whether he was unfit or incompetent to perform the work for which he was hired. Under that special-verdict sequence, the claim failed at that point. The jury did not issue a general certificate that every aspect of Murray's conduct was proper. [2]
Reuters reported jurors' explanation that they distinguished competence for the job from the unethical conduct at issue. A commentator's shorthand that AEG 'did nothing wrong' is broader than the actual questions answered. Equally, claiming the jury found AEG liable because it found a hiring relationship omits the next, decisive answer. [3]
Murray's criminal conviction concerned his own responsibility; the civil action asked whether the promoter could be held liable under the claims that remained for trial. A finding against one defendant does not automatically answer the legal questions about another. The appellate opinion preserved the judgment rather than converting the civil case into a retrial of whether Jackson died. [4]