With jury selection now underway, the AEG Live vs. Jackson trial is set to begin. AEG Live, the concert promoter of Michael Jackson’s concert tour before the artist’s untimely demise, is set to defend itself against the accusation of wrongful death via the “mistreatment” of Dr. Conrad Murray. The late King of Pop’s family had filed the lawsuit against the company.
Jackson’s heirs, his mother Katherine and three children will soon face the concert promoter in the courtroom. Michael’s heirs are seeking compensations for damages amounting to $40 billion.
On the defensive
AEG Live was the main organizer for Michael Jackson’s This Is It Tour which was scheduled in the summer of 2009. This tour was intended to usher in the comeback of the pop superstar whose latter part of his career was marred by a number of controversies. Jackson died a couple of weeks before the tour’s London debut.
Speculation is high that the lawyers of AEG Live will unearth accusations thrown against Jackson while he was alive, including child molestation issues as well as his drug dependence. In an interview an AEG lawyer said that the child molestation accusations caused an increase in the intake of prohibited drugs by the artist. AEG intends to prove in court that Michael Jackson was also responsible for his own death.
Is AEG Live to blame?
The lawyers of the Jackson heirs say that Dr. Murray was hired and controlled by Dr. Murray and AEG did not prioritize the safety of Michael Jackson in making the decision. AEG Live countered that the doctor was hired by Jackson himself and denies any responsibility for any action of Dr. Murray that contributed to the musician’s death.
If the jury now being put together decides that AEG indeed hired the doctor and in the process contributed to the overdose which killed the pop icon, then it would have to face the consequences of its “negligent hiring” of personnel. Dr. Murray received a monthly salary of $150,000 for his medical services which was his only source of income. The doctor was reportedly under a lot of financial stress.
Mountains of evidence
During the pretrial the Los Angeles judge allowed a single claim to move forward after other claims filed by the Jackson lawyers were dismissed at the request of the defendants. AEG is confident that during the trial there is enough evidence to go through including document and witness testimonies. AEG Live hopes that what they have will prove that Michael Jackson and not the company was the one who directed the doctor to administer the fatal dosage of proforol which led to his overdose.
On the other side of the fence, the Jacksons lawyers will be presenting evidence such as e-mail exchanges between the executives of AEG Live as proof that AEG was paying Dr. Murray his salary for attending to Michael’s medical needs at that time. Reportedly, there is also a document proving that AEG Live denied a petition to look more in-depth into the artist’s health a few months before his sudden death. The Jacksons will argue that extreme pressure was placed on Dr. Murray to get the artist ready for his comeback tour no matter what it takes leading to his ill-fated actions that day.
The trial will be held in Los Angeles and is expected to take from two to three months.
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