Singer’s financial troubles and struggles with drug abuse were on display
By Anthony McCartney
AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Jackson’s words and music rang through a courtroom once again on Monday — this time at the start of wrongful death trial — as a lawyer tried to show jurors the pop singer’s loving relationship with his mother and children.
Jackson’s praise for his mother brought tears to her eyes, a tender moment in a day in which her superstar son was repeatedly called an addict by lawyers on both sides of her civil lawsuit against concert giant AEG Live.
Jurors listening to Monday’s opening status were given a brief tour of Jackson’s life through photos of him with his children and videos of his performances. Jurors watched a video of one Christmas morning when Jackson bought his children a dog while his song, “You Are My Life,” filled the courtroom.
Yet Jackson’s troubles were also on prominent display, with attorneys describing his financial troubles and his struggles with prescription drug abuse.
Attorneys showed videos of Jackson ably performing his hits, only to moments later 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 with 45 medical professionals he said Jackson consulted over the years, some of whom he requested doses of the powerful anesthetic propofol.
Jackson died in June 2009 from an overdose of propofol, and a year later his mother sued AEG claiming the company failed to properly investigate the doctor who was giving it to him. The former physician, Conrad Murray, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and remains jailed.
Murray, AEG and Jackson were part of an intricate puzzle that plaintiff’s lawyer Brian Panish hopes to piece together for the jury in the coming weeks. He told the panel that AEG, motivated by its desire to overtake a competitor, created a conflicted situation for Murray in which he chose a huge payday over properly caring for Jackson.
They 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.
Defense attorney Marvin S. Putnam, however, said the company couldn’t have known that Jackson was using propofol, or the depths of his addiction. He said Jackson hid his propofol addiction from his family and medical professionals were barred from telling anyone about it due to doctor-patient confidentiality.
He told the panel that it was Jackson who wanted Murray’s treatments, and the singer ultimately was responsible for his death.
The case may feature testimony from Jackson’s mother and the singer’s two oldest children, Prince and Paris.
The trial will also 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.
