LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Jackson's words and música rang through a courtroom once again — this time at the start of a wrongful death trial — as a lawyer tried to show jurors the pop star's loving relationship with his mother and children.
Jackson's praise for his mother brought tears to her eyes, a tender moment on Monday, when her superstar son was repeatedly called an addict por lawyers on both sides of her lawsuit against show, concerto giant AEG Live.
Jurors listening to opening statements were given a brief tour of Jackson's life through fotografias of him with his children and vídeos of his performances. While Jackson's song, "You Are My Life," filled the courtroom, jurors watched footage of a natal morning when he gave his children a dog.
Jackson's troubles were also on prominent display, with attorneys describing his financial troubles and his struggles with prescription drug abuse.
Attorneys read emails describing the singer as unhealthy and in need of a serious intervention. A defense attorney for AEG Live at one point flashed a slide listing 45 medical professionals. He said Jackson had consulted with each of them over the years and requested doses of the powerful anesthetic propofol from some.
Both sides concluded opening statements and testimony was expected to begin on Tuesday.
Jackson died in June 2009 from an overdose of propofol. A ano later his mother, Katherine Jackson, sued AEG claiming the company failed to properly investigate a doctor who was giving it to him. The former physician, Conrad Murray, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and remains jailed.
Murray, AEG and Michael Jackson were part of an intricate puzzle that plaintiff's lawyer Brian Panish intends to piece together for the jury in the coming weeks. He told the panel that AEG, motivated por its desire to overtake a competitor, created a conflicted situation for Murray in which he chose a huge payday over properly caring for Jackson.
The company also ignored Murray's troubled finances and Jackson's string of health problems as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts titled "This Is It," Panish said.
"They didn't care who got lost in the wash," Panish told the jury. He repeated the adage, "the show must go on," to describe AEG's actions toward both Jackson and Murray.
Defense attorney Marvin S. Putnam countered that the company couldn't have known Jackson was using propofol or the depth of his addiction. He said Jackson hid the addiction from his family, and medical professionals were barred from telling anyone about it due to doctor-patient confidentiality.
"The truth is, Michael Jackson fooled everyone," Putnam said. "He made sure that no one — nobody — knew his deepest, darkest secrets."
He told the panel that it was Jackson who wanted Murray's treatments, and the singer ultimately was responsible for his death.
"This case is about personal choices," Putnam said. "Also, it was about his personal responsibility. There's no pergunta that Michael Jackson's death was a terrible tragedy. I believe the evidence will show it was not a tragedy of AEG Live's making."
Panish urged the jury of six men and six women to reject placing blame on Jackson.
"Michael paid the ultimate price. He died," Panish said. "Michael has taken responsibility."
Jackson died before signing Murray's $150,000 a mês contract to serve as his tour doctor.
During his opening remarks, Panish displayed several emails between AEG executives discussing Jackson's health.
One was sent por AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips before Jackson's news conference announcing his "This Is It" shows. The message to Tim Leiweke, former CEO of AEG'S parent company, stated that Jackson was drunk and refusing to address fans.
"This is the scariest thing I have ever seen," Phillips wrote to Leiweke. "He is an emotionally paralyzed mess riddled with self-loathing and doubt now that it's show time. He's scared to death."
The trial will feature testimony from the children's parents, Debbie Rowe, who was married to Jackson and who Putnam said witnessed the entertainer receiving propofol treatments in the 1990s.
"Ms. Rowe knew this was incredibly dangerous," Putnam said, and she insisted on staying por Jackson's side while he was under the effects of the anesthetic.
The case also might feature testimony from Jackson's mother and the singer's two oldest children, Prince and Paris.
Panish told jurors it would be up to them to decide any possible damage award to Jackson's mother and children. If Jackson had lived, he could have earned at least $1.5 billion, the lawyer said.
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AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report. Anthony McCartney can be reached at link .
Jackson's praise for his mother brought tears to her eyes, a tender moment on Monday, when her superstar son was repeatedly called an addict por lawyers on both sides of her lawsuit against show, concerto giant AEG Live.
Jurors listening to opening statements were given a brief tour of Jackson's life through fotografias of him with his children and vídeos of his performances. While Jackson's song, "You Are My Life," filled the courtroom, jurors watched footage of a natal morning when he gave his children a dog.
Jackson's troubles were also on prominent display, with attorneys describing his financial troubles and his struggles with prescription drug abuse.
Attorneys read emails describing the singer as unhealthy and in need of a serious intervention. A defense attorney for AEG Live at one point flashed a slide listing 45 medical professionals. He said Jackson had consulted with each of them over the years and requested doses of the powerful anesthetic propofol from some.
Both sides concluded opening statements and testimony was expected to begin on Tuesday.
Jackson died in June 2009 from an overdose of propofol. A ano later his mother, Katherine Jackson, sued AEG claiming the company failed to properly investigate a doctor who was giving it to him. The former physician, Conrad Murray, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and remains jailed.
Murray, AEG and Michael Jackson were part of an intricate puzzle that plaintiff's lawyer Brian Panish intends to piece together for the jury in the coming weeks. He told the panel that AEG, motivated por its desire to overtake a competitor, created a conflicted situation for Murray in which he chose a huge payday over properly caring for Jackson.
The company also ignored Murray's troubled finances and Jackson's string of health problems as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts titled "This Is It," Panish said.
"They didn't care who got lost in the wash," Panish told the jury. He repeated the adage, "the show must go on," to describe AEG's actions toward both Jackson and Murray.
Defense attorney Marvin S. Putnam countered that the company couldn't have known Jackson was using propofol or the depth of his addiction. He said Jackson hid the addiction from his family, and medical professionals were barred from telling anyone about it due to doctor-patient confidentiality.
"The truth is, Michael Jackson fooled everyone," Putnam said. "He made sure that no one — nobody — knew his deepest, darkest secrets."
He told the panel that it was Jackson who wanted Murray's treatments, and the singer ultimately was responsible for his death.
"This case is about personal choices," Putnam said. "Also, it was about his personal responsibility. There's no pergunta that Michael Jackson's death was a terrible tragedy. I believe the evidence will show it was not a tragedy of AEG Live's making."
Panish urged the jury of six men and six women to reject placing blame on Jackson.
"Michael paid the ultimate price. He died," Panish said. "Michael has taken responsibility."
Jackson died before signing Murray's $150,000 a mês contract to serve as his tour doctor.
During his opening remarks, Panish displayed several emails between AEG executives discussing Jackson's health.
One was sent por AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips before Jackson's news conference announcing his "This Is It" shows. The message to Tim Leiweke, former CEO of AEG'S parent company, stated that Jackson was drunk and refusing to address fans.
"This is the scariest thing I have ever seen," Phillips wrote to Leiweke. "He is an emotionally paralyzed mess riddled with self-loathing and doubt now that it's show time. He's scared to death."
The trial will feature testimony from the children's parents, Debbie Rowe, who was married to Jackson and who Putnam said witnessed the entertainer receiving propofol treatments in the 1990s.
"Ms. Rowe knew this was incredibly dangerous," Putnam said, and she insisted on staying por Jackson's side while he was under the effects of the anesthetic.
The case also might feature testimony from Jackson's mother and the singer's two oldest children, Prince and Paris.
Panish told jurors it would be up to them to decide any possible damage award to Jackson's mother and children. If Jackson had lived, he could have earned at least $1.5 billion, the lawyer said.
___
AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report. Anthony McCartney can be reached at link .
TMZ has learned the Holmby Hills mansion where Michael Jackson died is getting a serious boost in security -- so nobody messes with the super-expensive property while it's on the market.
Sources connected to the início tell us ... now that people know the início is "vacated and for sale, the property owners have increased security to keep it safe."
As we previously reported, the owners are requiring potential buyers to go through an "extensive pre-qualifying check" before they can even walk in the door ... just to keep out the riffraff.
The início is currently on the market for a cool $28 mil.
Sources connected to the início tell us ... now that people know the início is "vacated and for sale, the property owners have increased security to keep it safe."
As we previously reported, the owners are requiring potential buyers to go through an "extensive pre-qualifying check" before they can even walk in the door ... just to keep out the riffraff.
The início is currently on the market for a cool $28 mil.
An MJ fã club is on a desperate mission to clean up the recent graffiti onslaught outside the King of Pop's tomb -- claiming a few bad apples could spoil everything for MJ's non-vandal followers.
The Official Michael Jackson fãs of Southern California have extended an oliva, verde-oliva branch to Forest Lawn Cemetery -- where MJ is buried -- offering to clean up the recent wave of hidden vandalism outside the singer's tomb ... before the cemetery decides to ban MJ fãs altogether.
A rep for the group -- which organizes a monthly pilgrimage to MJ's burial place -- tells TMZ, they want to "fix this mess" so FLC doesn't associate MJ's upstanding fãs with a bunch of sharpie-wielding hoodlums.
As TMZ first reported, Forest Lawn is currently on red alert over the illegal doodles -- hunting down the artists responsible ... and threatening to ban any potential copycats for life.
No word if Forest Lawn will take the fã group up on their offer.
The Official Michael Jackson fãs of Southern California have extended an oliva, verde-oliva branch to Forest Lawn Cemetery -- where MJ is buried -- offering to clean up the recent wave of hidden vandalism outside the singer's tomb ... before the cemetery decides to ban MJ fãs altogether.
A rep for the group -- which organizes a monthly pilgrimage to MJ's burial place -- tells TMZ, they want to "fix this mess" so FLC doesn't associate MJ's upstanding fãs with a bunch of sharpie-wielding hoodlums.
As TMZ first reported, Forest Lawn is currently on red alert over the illegal doodles -- hunting down the artists responsible ... and threatening to ban any potential copycats for life.
No word if Forest Lawn will take the fã group up on their offer.
The film deals with the life of Jackson from his childhood until the death of large stars. The Katherine, in fact, intends to offer hundreds of hours of family vídeos to Howard Mann, who wrote the album with her. These include hardware since the family moved from Gary Indiana to Los Angeles as soon as the Jackson 5 signed with the label Motown.
Said even, that the Howard has paid richly-digit amount to the former partner of Michael, Marc Schaffel, for 26 additional hours of video material with the king of pop. The Katherine Howard and planning a series of films for Michael. The documentary "This is it in the preparation of the king of pop for the comeback, earned profits of 400 million U.S. dollars to the family.
Michael Jackson's estate is lashing out at the people behind a new MJ documentary set to debut in Japão tomorrow -- claiming fãs are being duped into believing the flick was authorized por Team MJ.
The estate has released a scathing statement claiming that flamingo Features is promoting the movie in a way that is misleading MJ's fãs into believing the film -- shot por former MJ confidante Marc Schaffel -- was properly authorized.
The estate also makes it clear it doesn't endorse the flick and none of the profits will benefit MJ's children. They also note that the movie is not allowed to contain any of Michael's music.
Schaffel doesn't appear to be bothered -- the above fotografia was taken moments atrás at the movie premiere in Tokyo ... where Schaffel took the stage and told fãs Katherine Jackson sent along her best wishes.
Tuesday, we shot video of Schaffel and Debbie Rowe boarding a plane to Tokyo.
The estate has released a scathing statement claiming that flamingo Features is promoting the movie in a way that is misleading MJ's fãs into believing the film -- shot por former MJ confidante Marc Schaffel -- was properly authorized.
The estate also makes it clear it doesn't endorse the flick and none of the profits will benefit MJ's children. They also note that the movie is not allowed to contain any of Michael's music.
Schaffel doesn't appear to be bothered -- the above fotografia was taken moments atrás at the movie premiere in Tokyo ... where Schaffel took the stage and told fãs Katherine Jackson sent along her best wishes.
Tuesday, we shot video of Schaffel and Debbie Rowe boarding a plane to Tokyo.
Michael Jackson had some unexpected company drop por this weekend -- a surprise visit from his close friend Stevie Wonder.
TMZ has confirmed that the singer and three of his children stopped por Michael's tomb at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, CA this weekend to pay their respects.
According to Stevie's rep, Wonder and his kids had gone to the cemetery to visit Stevie's dearly departed mother -- but Stevie's children insisted they visit MJ too.
Wonder and MJ were famously close -- and at MJ's memorial last year, Stevie told the crowd he often let Michael know how much he loved him ... and was "at peace with that."
See also
TMZ has confirmed that the singer and three of his children stopped por Michael's tomb at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, CA this weekend to pay their respects.
According to Stevie's rep, Wonder and his kids had gone to the cemetery to visit Stevie's dearly departed mother -- but Stevie's children insisted they visit MJ too.
Wonder and MJ were famously close -- and at MJ's memorial last year, Stevie told the crowd he often let Michael know how much he loved him ... and was "at peace with that."
See also
Originally posted May 13th 2010 5:30 PM PDT por TMZ Staff
Lisa Marie Presley's desperate plea for fãs to bring mais flores to Michael Jackson's tomb must have fallen on deaf ears -- because as of today the entrance to the tomb was pretty bare.
Michael Jackson's ex-wife complained about too much "empty space" around the singer's tomb on her MySpace page yesterday -- and urged fãs to fill the void with lots of sunflowers ... but obviously that didn't happen.
fãs have since fired back, claiming they've been faithfully doing their part flowers-wise since MJ died last year.
Read more: link
Lisa Marie Presley's desperate plea for fãs to bring mais flores to Michael Jackson's tomb must have fallen on deaf ears -- because as of today the entrance to the tomb was pretty bare.
Michael Jackson's ex-wife complained about too much "empty space" around the singer's tomb on her MySpace page yesterday -- and urged fãs to fill the void with lots of sunflowers ... but obviously that didn't happen.
fãs have since fired back, claiming they've been faithfully doing their part flowers-wise since MJ died last year.
Read more: link
