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A jury cleared a cardiologist and a radiologist Friday of negligence in the diagnosis and treatment of actor John Ritter, who died of a torn aorta in 2003. Jurors said the majority believed the cardiologist summoned to the hospital after Ritter was diagnosed with a heart attack had no time to order a chest X-ray that might have found the tear. They also said the radiologist, who gave Ritter a body scan two years earlier, did advise Ritter of coronary problems and to consult other doctors, but his failure to do so did not cause his death. The 9-3 verdict means there is no damage judgment against the doctors, neither of whom were present when the jury reached a decision in the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Ritter's widow and children.

Verdicts do not have to be unanimous in civil cases.