Judge To Dismiss AEG Execs

AEG Live co-CEOs Randy Phillips and Paul Gongaware reportedly are to be dismissed as defendants in the Jackson family’s negligence suit against the company and its execs currently being tried in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Judge Yvette Palazuelos issued a tentative ruling Sept. 9 throwing out the case against the two execs, but the company remains a defendant, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A mid-morning hearing was scheduled to allow attorneys to argue the tentative ruling.

Phillips and Gongaware are key witnesses at the trial, and both have spent several days on the stand.

Emails between the two, and music director Kenny Ortega, have been the focus of much testimony during the trial, now entering its fifth month.

Katherine Jackson and her three grandchildren sued AEG Live, Phillips and Gongaware for negligence in the hiring and supervision of Conrad Murray, the former doctor now serving time for his role in Michael Jackson’s June 2009 death.

Photo: Kevin Mazur, AEG/Getty Images, file/AP

Rehearsing at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The company says Jackson hired Murray, with money advanced by AEG Live serving as an advance to the superstar.

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