Conrad Murray says he cried when he heard Jackson-AEG verdict

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The doctor behind bars for the death of Michael Jackson says he cried when he heard the U.S. pop star's family lost a wrongful-death lawsuit against AEG Live.

A jury announced Wednesday it found the concert promoters were not liable for Jackson's death in 2009 and cardiologist Dr. Conrad Murray was not unfit for the work for which he was hired.

The Hollywood Reporter said Murray watched the verdict as it was being delivered on television.

"My immediate reaction was one of tears; certainly, I cried," Murray told the "Today" show by phone from a Los Angeles prison Thursday. "I cried because for once the world was allowed to hear some of the facts that pertained to this matter. A lot of facts that had been suppressed, much of which I was denied and my attorneys could not present during my criminal trial. I was not given a fair chance to defend myself, nor were they given an opportunity to defend me. Based on the ruling of the court, I was very relieved that at least the world had a chance of hearing some of the facts."

Murray is a few weeks away from finishing his four-year prison sentence after he was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death at the age of 50.

The surviving members of Jackson's family, including his mother and three children, sued AEG for $290 million in personal damages and unspecified damages based on what the singer could have earned by performing had he not died when he did.

The Jackson family is suing the promoters for allegedly failing to properly supervise Murray, the personal physician hired to care for Jackson as he prepared for a string of comeback shows in London.

Prosecutors in Murray's criminal case said the doctor administered lethal amounts of sedatives and anesthesia to Jackson in an effort to help him sleep.

AEG Live has argued in the civil lawsuit Jackson demanded it hire Murray to look after him, then kept his insomnia and controversial medical treatments a secret from his financial backers.