Michael Jackson-AEG verdict: Conrad Murray cries, speaks out

1/17

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)

2/17

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)

3/17

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

4/17

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)

5/17

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)

6/17

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)

7/17

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)

8/17

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)

9/17

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)

10/17

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)

11/17

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

12/17

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)

13/17

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)

14/17

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)

15/17

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)

16/17

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)

17/17

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 Ari Bloomekatz

Oct. 3, 2013 10:52 AM PT

Conrad Murray, the physician convicted in the death of Michael Jackson, said from jail Thursday morning that he broke into tears after Wednesday’s verdict in a lawsuit in the case.

“My immediate reaction was one of tears; certainly, I cried,” Murray said in an interview from jail on NBC’s “Today.”

In Wednesday’s conclusion of the lawsuit, filed by Jackson’s family against concert promoter AEG Live, a jury decided that AEG was not responsible for the pop star’s death.

The jury also found that Murray had been competent to serve as the pop star’s physician, but members of the panel said after the verdict that they don’t believe that vindicates him in the death.

“We felt he was competent,” jury foreman Gregg Barden said. “That doesn’t mean we felt he was ethical. If ethical was the question, it might have been a different outcome. In the end, he was very unethical. He did something he shouldn’t have done.”

Murray, serving a sentence for manslaughter in Jackson’s overdose death, took exception with Barden’s comments in his “Today” interview with Matt Lauer.

“What the juror said was that if ethics were the issue, the conclusion might be different,” Murray said.

“This is not about ethics. This was about the Jacksons bringing a lawsuit which I felt from the beginning was frivolous. ... When you say I am ‘unethical,’ that was speculation on [the foreman’s] part, because he has not heard the other side,” Murray told Lauer.

Murray, who is at the Men’s Central Jail, is due to be released in 26 days, his appellate attorney said.

When he leaves jail, Murray said, he wants to “embrace my children” and “reunite with my family and close friends.”

“I would restart my life and, God willing, I would be a model to show the world that despite adversity and when bad things happen to good people, they can restart their life and succeed,” he told Lauer.

ALSO:

Authorities seek help identifying skeletal remains

Gov. Brown signs testing overhaul bill, ending old state tests

Family of missing Laguna Niguel teen extends search to Oregon

Twitter: @aribloomekatz | Facebook

[email protected]