Jackson's sex abuse case may feature in new trial over death
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LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - Michael Jackson's 2005 trial and acquittal on child sex abuse charges may be revisited in a civil lawsuit next month that pits the pop singer's mother against concert promoters AEG Live, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Thursday.
Mrs Katherine Jackson is suing AEG Live for the wrongful death of her son, alleging that the concert promoter was negligent in hiring Dr Conrad Murray to care for the singer ahead of a series of London comeback concerts set for July 2009.
Jackson, 50, died in June 2009 in Los Angeles after a rehearsal for the concerts. Murray was found guilty in 2011 of responsibility for Jackson's death by giving him the surgical anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid, and is serving a four-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos ruled that attorneys for AEG Live could raise Jackson's molestation trial as part of their defence in the wrongful death case as it may be relevant to his history of drug abuse and despondency.
