The verdict in the Michael Jackson trial was finally announced Wednesday evening after several days of jury deliberation. AEG Live was found to not be liable in the singer's death.
The case has been long and drawn out, since beginning in April. Let's take a look back at how things unfolded in the trial brought against concert promoter AEG Live by Katherine Jackson.
March 23, 2013: A judge ruled that the wrongful-death trial could proceed against AEG Live. The judge laid out what could be used in the trial, and the 2005 child sex abuse scandal was ruled admissible. April 2, 2013 - April 22, 2013: Jury selection began in the case in early April and was expected only take a few days. It took until nearly the end of April, before both sides could put together a jury consisting of six men and six women. April 24, 2013: The Jackson wrongful-death trial officially began on the Monday. AEG's defense was that it was Jackson who hired Dr. Conrad Murray, not AEG Live. May 2013: A month into the trial, the Jackson family attempted to settle with AEG Live, which would ultimately not happen. It was revealed that the Jackson's had tried to settle before going ahead with the lawsuit, but AEG Live wasn't interested then either. June 18, 2013 : Witness testimony began in the case for the plaintiffs. Paris Jackson videotaped her testimony back in March. She was mostly asked in the video about her former nanny, Grace Rwaramba. Paris claimed that her father "didn't like her" and he tried to "keep her away from us." AEG's lawyers used testimony from chef Kai Chase to disprove Paris' accounts. June 21, 2013: A sleep expert testified about Michael Jackson's sleep issues and how he once went 60 days without sleep. June 26, 2013: Prince Jackson gave his testimony in court. While on the stand, Prince gave an emotional testimony about witnessing the final moments from his father. "My dad was hanging half off the bed, his eyes rolling back in his head. My sister came upstairs, but we kept pulling her downstairs. She was screaming the whole time saying she wants her daddy." He also testified about Micheal's relationship with Dr. Murray. July 19, 2013: Katherine Jackson took the stand to testify. She discussed the pop singer's early life and lamented that she wished he was there in court. AEG also presented documents that showed that the comeback tour was not quite as in-depth or possibly lucrative as Katherine was claiming. The amount projected was only $132 million compared to the $835 million Katherine claimed. July 25, 2013: The mother of Michael's two oldest children, Debbie Rowe, was called to testify. She was testifying for the defense, saying that Michael had long been using drugs, but didn't know that it was all that often. She also claimed she could've stopped the singer and his doctors from constantly administering Demerol and Vistaril, but that she ultimately didn't know, so how could AEG? Sept. 9, 2013: Two AEG executives were dismissed from the case, removing them as defendants. The case against AEG Live, however, was ruled to continue. Sept. 23, 2013: Closing arguments began. Katherine Jackson accused AEG Live of being complicit in her son's death, while the concert promoter's lawyers argued that Michael shopped for doctors in secret. Sept. 25, 2013: Jury deliberations on the wrongful-death trial started once the three days of closing arguments finished up. Oct. 2, 2013: A verdict was reached in the case. After several days of deliberation, the jury found that AEG Live was not liable for the pop star's death. image: YouTube