Over four years after his passing, Michael Jackson's wrongful death trial is now underway against concert promoter AEG Live.
According to the family's complaint, the company behind the King of Pop's 50-date This is It show in London are responsible for his 2009 death, specifically for hiring Dr. Conrad Murray, who is currently in prison for involuntary manslaughter of the 50-year-old star.
Expected to last several months, the trial could see Katherine, Prince, and Paris Jackson take the witness stand. The suit asks for damages in the amount of $40 billion, the estimate of what Michael could have earned for the rest of his life.
Earlier, the family gained a small victory when a judge agreed that there could be enough evidence to determine that the promoters were negligent in hiring Murray and should have known that the doctor would use unsafe combinations of drugs to treat his patient.
An email sent by AEG Live Co-CEO 11 days before Mr. Jackson's death noted show director Kenny Ortega's concerns about his health and stated, "We want to remind (Murray) that it is AEG, not MJ, who is paying his salary. We want to remind him what is expected of him." The judge on the case previously said AEG Live didn't do a sufficient background check on the doctor, which would have showed his massive debt.
The family is likely to try and emphasize that point as the judge already wrote, "There is a triable issue of fact as to whether it was foreseeable that such a physician under strong financial pressure may compromise his Hippocratic Oath and do what was known by AEG Live's executives to be an unfortunate practice in the entertainment industry for financial gain." Stay tuned to GossipCenter for more as the trial gets underway.
According to the family's complaint, the company behind the King of Pop's 50-date This is It show in London are responsible for his 2009 death, specifically for hiring Dr. Conrad Murray, who is currently in prison for involuntary manslaughter of the 50-year-old star.
Earlier, the family gained a small victory when a judge agreed that there could be enough evidence to determine that the promoters were negligent in hiring Murray and should have known that the doctor would use unsafe combinations of drugs to treat his patient.
An email sent by AEG Live Co-CEO 11 days before Mr. Jackson's death noted show director Kenny Ortega's concerns about his health and stated, "We want to remind (Murray) that it is AEG, not MJ, who is paying his salary. We want to remind him what is expected of him." The judge on the case previously said AEG Live didn't do a sufficient background check on the doctor, which would have showed his massive debt.
The family is likely to try and emphasize that point as the judge already wrote, "There is a triable issue of fact as to whether it was foreseeable that such a physician under strong financial pressure may compromise his Hippocratic Oath and do what was known by AEG Live's executives to be an unfortunate practice in the entertainment industry for financial gain." Stay tuned to GossipCenter for more as the trial gets underway.
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