Jury chosen in Jackson family trial against AEG

Jury selection finished Tuesday for a trial in which Michael Jackson's family is suing AEG, arguing the concert promoters are responsible for the singer's death since they hired his doctor.

 

With the 12 jurors -- six men and six women -- and their alternates picked, opening arguments are expected to start Monday, officials said. Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos will preside over the proceedings expected to last at least three months. In this wrongful death civil trial, Jackson's mother Katherine, 82, accuses the promoter of negligently hiring Dr. Conrad Murray to  look after Jackson, who died at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009, from an overdose of propofol.

 

On Monday, the jailed Murray filed an appeal against his conviction for involuntary manslaughter over the US star's death. Murray said prosecutors failed to prove the self-styled King of Pop was on a propofol drip the day he died from an overdose of the powerful sedative, which he was using to treat chronic insomnia. He broke his silence earlier this month to say he does not want to testify at the trial to avoid incriminating himself for his own appeal.

 

Murray has always protested his innocence, saying he was trying to get Jackson off propofol as he rehearsed in Los Angeles for the doomed "This is It" comeback series of concerts in London. "I am an innocent man .. I maintain that innocence," he told CNN on April 2, adding: "I am extremely sorry that Michael has passed. It's a tremendous loss for me... he was very close to me .. we were absolutely great friends."