"Attorney Panish of the Jackson family begin with the opening statements by introducing the jury to Katherine Jackson, present in the court room. Video clip of This Is It starts playing on screens.
Panish introduces Michael as a singer, song-writer, dancer, music producer, wntertainer, humantiarian, a devoted son and a great father. The jury would have to assess the loss of his mother and his children who where all dependent on him and see how AEG and Conrad Murray were part of the tragedy and failed in their obligation to give Michael reasonable care.
Panish introduced it as 3 piece jig-saw puzzle . Michael, Murray and AEG Live. The pieces would eventually fit together and make sense in how all parties were responsible in his death.
First piece of the Puzzle: Michael.
Michael had a problem with pain killers and was at times dependent, which got worse when he was preparing for certain things or at certain times of his life. He functioned nonetheless but he had an issue at times. Panish went on to say that the defendants (AEG) would try to blame everything on Michael but that people needed to know Michael's use of pain killers started in 1984 after the Pespi commercial incident and that all the money he received from the accident was given back to charity by opening a burn center. That through the years Michael suffered injuries and pain which required medication. He suffered from vitiligo, burn surgery, other surgeries and as a dancer his body suffered wear and tear which involved pain. He suffered from accidents such as the Munich concert where Michael fell down with a portion of the elevated bridge and severely hurt his back but kept on performing but that the Defense would attack Michael for the medications he used, (one minute earlier Panish claimed Michael had a low pain thresh hold ?! Error?), and that because of his pain and the use of pain killers he developed insomnia.
Panish stated that Propofol doesn't make you sleep, it just knocks you out, and that Michael didn't know that. Michael took Propofol throughout the years for surgeries. Michael asked for it at home but nobody ever agreed until Murray. Pain led to Demerol which led to insomnia which led to Propofol.
"AEG will tell you that Michael's pain was fake and that he was just a junkie. AEG could have prevented what happened but enabled it instead".
Second piece of the puzzle: Murray.
Panish: Murray was in debt, owed back child support, in dire financial straits. He was introduced to Michael in 2006 and treated Michael only 7 times before 2009. He was not his personal physician like AEG will try to claim. Dr. Klein and Metzger were Michael's only long time physicians.Murray was an MJ fan and was enamored. Michael suggested Murray to AEG for a $5 million tour amount ($150 000 a month). Yes, Murray was convicted in a criminal trial but the story doesn't end there. AEG Live is also involved.
Murray's nice BMW (considering his financial stress) was impounded at Carolwood after Michael died. A search warrant was obtained and in the car, LAPD found:
1. An AEG Live business card belonging to Brandon Randy Phillips2. An envelope3. A contract between AEG and Murray. Drafted and reviewed by AEG lawyers.
Third piece of the Puzzle: AEG Live.
AEG had a problem. They weren't in the concert business but wanted to. Live Nation was #1 and AEG was ruthless to take that spot.AEG planned to get the best: Michael Jackson. The problem with the plan is that there were no rules and they didn't care who'd get lost in the wash.
AEG's contract with Michael included helping to pay his debts off and giving him advances. Advances could be recouped at any time and were secured by Michael's assets. What AEG knew before entering a contract with him:
-Michael relying on doctors for pain and had an opiate dependency back in 1993. Paul Gongaware, one of AEG's CEOs used to be a tour manager on the Dangerous Tour and knew Michael was dependent on Demerol at the time.Dangerous Tour doctor Finklestein, testified that Gongaware knew MJ needed help back then. But in court and under oath, Gongaware denied the knowledge of dependency during the Dangerous tour and claimed he found out only after the tour.
-In 2008, before Michael signed the AEG tour contract, Randy Phillips told a reporter that Michael had problems with alcohol and pain killers. In 2009 the contract was signed.
Evidence will show early warning signs.
Randy Phillips' emails to Gongaware show that he was worried about Michael. Gongaware accuses Michael of being lazy and writes " Michael is locked. He has no choice. Backing out now would be a disaster for us".
4/5/09 : London Press Conference email from Randy Phillips to Tim Leiweke (another AEG CEO):" MJ is drunk and locked up in his room and dispondent. Thome and I had to dress him. I screamed at him so loud the walls were shaking".
"The show must go on".
April 2009: Michael requests a doctor for the tour. Red flag. A doctor who would be paid $5 million. Red Flag. A supposed successful doctor who can shut down his entire clinic and business over night. Red flag.
According to the Dangerous tour doctor Finklestein, a normal amount would have been $1.5 million for the tour and Finklestein would have personally asked for $40 000 now. A cardiologist would not be the type of doctor Michael would have needed. His heart was fine.
Gongaware contacted Finklestein to ask him if he wanted to go on the This Is It tour. Finklestein said yes and asked if Michael was clean. Gongaware said yes. Finklestein said he would not have gone on tour if he wasn't. Ultimately this is why Finklestein didn't get the job.
No investigation or background check of Murray were done by AEG, although AEG Employee Classification Form requires background checks. But AEG claims Murray was an independent contractor. It will be proven that he wasn't, and that AEG does background checks on independent contractors as well.
A background check would have shown that Murray was not qualified. That he was broke, that his home was in foreclosure, that he had gone to jail for a month for failure to pay child support, that he was in debt and had been suspended in 2008 because of issues related to patient care.AEG claims they have an unparallel standard in Artist care.
Everything went downhill after Murray arrived on the scene.
6/15/09: Kenny Ortega emails Gongaware about Michael not being fine. Gongaware replies that Murray needs to understand that THEY are paying his salary, not MJ!
*(A video is shown in court. It's Gongaware's testimony about this specific email).On video Gongaware claims he's never seen this email before, even though he acknowledges it is indeed his email address.He claims he doesn't know what the "salary" comment is referring to. He doesn't remember. He claims AEG weren't paying his salary and that he doesn't understand anything that's written or claimed.
Other emails are shown, going back and forth between Randy Phillips, Paul Gongaware and Kenny Ortega.
6/20/09, 4.57am: Kenny Ortega's email describes to Randy Phillips how bad Michael is and how he needs help. No Answer from Randy Phillips. Kenny Ortega email him again at 1.20pm. He tells Randy Phillips he doesn't think Michael is ready. Psychologist needed ASAP. A while later Phillips responds: "I had a conversation with Murray. He's perfect. I have an immense respect for him." He adds that they checked Murray out (a lie) and that Murray doesn't really need that gig (referring to the fact that if they had checked him out they would have found out he really DID need that gig). Records show that Phillips indeed had a 20 minute phone conversation with Murray.
Later Randy Phillips writes to Tim Leiweke saying that Kenny Ortega is starting to concern him because he's raising a concern!
Tim Leiweke then writes to Backerman (yet another AEG CEO): "Trouble with MJ. Big trouble! He is having a mental break-down". The rest of the correspondence between the 2 talk about hanging out later that evening and going to a show and have fun (nothing to do with MJ).
A week before Michael died, Randy Phillips and Paul Gongaware came to visit Michael.The meeting was hostile. Michael was frightened and feeble and fragile. A vase was broken and Michael ended up leaving. The meeting continued for hours with Murray.
The next part of the opening statements goes into explaining and detailing what the plaintiffs (Katherine and his 3 children) are seeking financially, as this is a civil lawsuit trial.
Panish begins by showing and reading a poem wrote to his mother.
Next they show the lyrics to "You Are My Life" and start playing the songs in the court room. Pictures are shown of Michael and his children and at the end a little video clip of them laughing and playing with daddy.
Compensatory Damages - Economic and Non-Economic.
Economic damages: Past and future loss of financial support and gifts.
Non-economic damages: Loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, protection, affection, society, moral support.
Panish then states that the plaintiffs are NOT seeking $40,2000,000,000. That that number was claimed by the Defense, not the plaintiffs.$1.5 billion is what Michael would have earned, according to AEG's own figures. That amount would therefore be an economic loss.The plaintiffs are seeking between $1.5 Billion (economic) and $1.7 billion. It's up to the jury to decide what the non-economical amount would be.
Panish continues by saying that AEG would tell the jurors that they never hired Murray. But emails show that Murray was contracted to meet all his demands and that Murray responds to those emails by acknowledging his services.
Randy Phillips is shown on video (and they played the video in the court room) acknowledging that they've hired Murray for a very large sum of money.
Next is an audio recording of LAPD interviewing Murray. Murray says AEG hired him and were to pay him regardless of whether it was Michael who asked for him.
Murray was included in the tour budget on May 8th, 2009. in an email from Tim Wolley (insurance broker) to Murray, Wolley acknowledges that Murray has already been working for 6 weeks.
AEG was going to give Murray all kinds of medical equipment so Murray could give Michael Propofol. Red flag. Another clause in the contract was that AEG could fire Murray at any time.
Murray signs the contract and Michael dies the next day. They can now claim there was no contract and therefore never paid him.
Other independent contractors didn't have contracts either but still worked for AEG. AEG then tried to get back payments for services rendered by Murray, even though they claim to have never hired him.
All 3 pieces of the puzzle can share responsibility.
Yes, Michael saw a lot of doctors (for different reasons) but the issue is what AEG did and didn't do to prevent this tragedy. And Murray had his own plan.
Panish ends the opening statements by saying this trial needs to be looking at 2 things.
1. Truth
2. Justice. Justice in what's fair compensation to his family. Economical and non-economical.
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AEG's Opening Statements:
AEG lawyer Putnam opened their opening Statement by saying that they will show the public Michael Jackson and the private Michael Jackson and that both were very different. One put blocks up between him and his family, him and his staff and him and the public.
That all changed on June25th, 2009.
The family is afraid that AEG will show some ugly stuff. Guess what? We will! And it's an ugly picture!
Putnam went on to say that June 25th, 2009 was a big public event. And that 2 months later the public would find out that he actually died from drugs. A drug most have never heard of, because it's not a pain killer but an anesthetic. And that Michael's life, like he his death, was nothing but typical.
Murray was found guilty and his conviction is on appeal. And that before AEG was convicted, Katherine Jackson and Michaels children sued AEG for his death.
Putnam went on to tell the jury that in the next couple of months they'd get evidence that Michael was abusing Propofol for years but that no-one knew because of the doctor/patient privacy law. The public didn't know and neither did AEG. Their job was not to make medical decisions for Michael. AEG Live is a public promoter and wasn't with Michael 24/7.
Putnam: "In 1993, Michael Jackson announced he had a problem with pain killers. He then went to rehab and got better and even went on to do another tour. That was the public MJ. Private MJ continued to have a problem. Michael Jackson was an addict and no intervention could help because an addict is an addict and they convince themselves that they don't have a problem. Michael Jackson didn't die of pain killers but of Propofol. Nobody knew about Propofol and he fooled everyone".
A clip of This Is It is shown in court (TDCAU clip ).
Putnam says that AEG were there that night (June 23rd at Staples) for the rehearsals and had come running when they heard he was unwell. However, what they saw did not alarm them, on the contrary.
Putnam carried on by saying that the early 2000 were difficult times in Michael's life because of a hideous trial which he was acquitted of. It was terrible and he then left the country and no-one heard of him for a couple of years. In 2007, Michael is the one who approached AEG Live by saying he was interested in making a come-back. It didn't work out because he wasn't ready. Michael contacted them again a year later in 2008 and this time appeared ready. He was 50. He hadn't performed in over a decade and had hardly released anything. But he was a huge spender with a lavish life-style. Michael "appeared" to be loaded, private MJ was not. He took out loans and loans until he was capped-out.
In 2001 Michael was $130 million in debt. In 2009, $400 Million in debt.
And its only when Michael realized how in debt he was that he decided to do something about it.Putnam added: "His children had never seen him on stage and he wanted them to have the experience...at least that's what he publicly claimed. Sure it might have been true but the real reason was debt".
Michael and Thome Thome approached AEG in 2008. When trying to introduce who Thome is, Putnam said: "You'll hear different names claiming to be his manager. Thome Thome, Frank Dileo...MJ changed people all the time. One day they'd be in, then out then back in".
AEG advances money to artists for upfront tour costs and artists pay them back, profit made or not. AEG was excited! It was MJ! Optimistic but cautiously optimistic because of the 2008 meeting when they felt he wasn't ready.
2 people were taking care of this, Randy Phillips (AEG Live) and Paul Gongaware (Concerts West - still AEG just different branch), which have also been personally sued by the family.
Paul Gongaware was most excited because he had worked with Michael on the Dangerous Tour, 20 years earlier. He took care of travel arrangements for the Dangerous Tour crew. He thought Michael was clean and a genius and didn't find out Michael had problems until after the tour. Now Michael was 50, much older than during the Dangerous Tour. Lawyers and managers got involved for his residency in London. AEG chose London because of the great fan base. They had decided up to 31 shows but announced only 10 initially.
Advances were made so Michael could get a house, his manager chose it (Carolwood).Putnam added that evidence would show that Michael agreed and signed the agreement. AEG costs included advances, crew, staff, etc. And that Michael had to pay back all the advances. So all the people Michael wanted to hire, including Murray were paid with advance money by AEG but that it still made it Michael Jackson money, since he was to pay them back. Putnam added that evidence would be brought forward about a Physical performed by a doctor chosen by an Insurance Company, not AEG, and passed with flying colors. And then in February 2009, Michael explained that he had a personal doctor called Conrad Murray and that they'd prove that Michael had not seen Murray only 7 times prior to 2009.
Michael was very involved with the whole project of the This Is It tour. Then he attended the London Press Conference in March 2009. Michael was nervous and in debt and it was therefore understandable that he acted the way he did that day. But he managed. The public response was out of amazing. AEG went back to Michael and asked if he would do more concerts and Michael said yes. Yes to 50. Michael liked the drama and tension of "will he go on stage or will he not", but Michael was excited about the whole deal.
Michael approached Gongaware telling him he was taking Murray with him to London. At that time Gongaware had never heard of him. He didn't object because it was his family doctor. AEG just had to figure out how much it would cost. It was up to Michael to figure out that cost and AEG would make the advances.AEG however told Michael that he didn't need to have a doctor with him, Michael insisted he did, and it wasn't up to them to refuse him the right to.Michael set Murray's pay and Gongaware called Murray and offered him that amount. Murray hesitated and said no, and Gongaware replied: "The offer comes directly fom the artist".
There are 3 draft agreements about the possible hiring of Murray.
1. June 15th - unsigned
2. June 18th - unsigned3.
June 23rd?
24th? - signed by Murray by himself on the 24th. No other signatures.
Draft agreements require artist consent. Without their signature there is no approval of agreement. Putnam added: "We'll never know if Michael truly wanted Murray since he didn't sign it".
AEG never paid Murray even though they budgeted him in the tour costs.
-AEG playing the audio clip of the LAPD June 27th, 2009 interview with Murray.
Murray was asked if he worked for AEG.Murray : "Michael asked me to be on his team. Michael offered me employment....employee of MJ paid by AEG. They would finance me".
AEG claims that after their meeting with Michael (the meeting previously referred to as being hostile and upsetting to Michael), they gave Michael a few days off and that when he came back to rehearsals at Staples on June 23rd and 24th, he was great!
The last night Michael supposedly thanked Randy Phillips and said " You got me here, Now I'm ready. I can take it from here".
Putnam then showed the video of Michael's 1993 public announcement regarding his addiction to pain killers.
Putnam: "This is the first and last time he ever let the world know he was addicted". "He got his drugs from doctors, not from the streets and if he got procedures nobody would question the drugs involved".
-A list of 40 doctors is shown in court.
According to Putnam, in early 2000, Michael was back and forth on pain killers and a lot of the doctors he went to didn't know each other. "Michael tried to get better and then just kept it secret instead".Putnam also referred to a scary incident that that took place in 2002, according bodyguard Laperruque, where he found Michael not breathing and Michael's children having to call 911. Then from 2002 to 2003, Michael was drug free. Until the horrible criminal trial, where he became addicted to pain killers again. The family tried an intervention but he refused help.
Deborah Rowe will testify, Putnam said and she will tell you that she used to be Dr. Klein's nurse and traveled on tour with Michael. Nothing was wrong until something started suddenly during the tour. She claims Michael used Propofol in hotel rooms during the Dangerous tour and that it was dangerous and that she wanted to be there when it was done. She wanted to make sure there were 2 anesthesiologists present.
Regarding Murray, Putnam says he was licensed in 4 states. Had no history of misconduct and that his financial problems are irrelevant. And that it is not AEG who claimed the plaintiffs were seeking $40 billion. The plaintiffs $$$ has changed 3 times over the last 2 years, with today's amount of approx. $1.5 billion which is still too huge.
Putnam ended by saying: " This case is about personal choices and personal responsibility".
©Notes written by Samantha de Gosson, 2013.
