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involuntary manslaughter
Michael Jackson’s civil trial in Los Angeles revealed today that the megastar asked a doctor for propofol 10 years before he died of an overdose of the drug.
Dr. Christine Quinn told how Michael Jackson asked her to give him propofol to help him sleep.
Michael Jackson died of an overdose of the drug given to him by Dr. Conrad Murray.
His mother, Katherine Jackson, is suing promoters AEG Live for $40 billion over her son’s 2009 death. The company has denied any wrongdoing.
Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 over Jackson’s death. AEG, which was promoting his planned comeback concerts, denies it hired Murray.
Dr. Christine Quinn was giving evidence for the defense.
Michael Jackson asked a doctor for propofol 10 years before he died of an overdose of the drug
She said the request for propofol came after she met Michael Jackson while he was undergoing dental procedures.
Dr. Christine Quinn said she told him it was not appropriate to use the drug as a sleep aid.
She told him the sleep you get with anaesthesia “is not real sleep, not restful sleep”.
But Michael Jackson told her it had given him the best sleep he had ever had.
Nurse practitioner Cherilyn Lee also told the court that Michael Jackson had told her he needed propofol to sleep in April 2009.
She said she had warned him that it was unsafe for home use and he might not wake up.
But Michael Jackson told her that doctors had told him he would be fine as long as he was monitored.
She said “his demeanor was <<I have to have this. I have to have this to sleep. You don’t understand, I have not had a good night’s sleep>>”.
AEG Live has also called a number of Michael Jackson’s former doctors to testify.
Dr. Petros Levounis, who had been hired by AEG, told the court on Tuesday that Michael Jackson showed signs that he was shopping around to try to find a doctor who would give him opioid drugs.
Katherine Jackson’s lawyers have said Michael was not an addict.
AEG Live’s dealings with Michael Jackson’s doctor were “highly inappropriate”, music industry expert David Berman has told a US court.
Michael Jackson died in 2009 following an overdose of a powerful anaesthetic administered by Dr. Conrad Murray.
Conrad Murray, hired ahead of Michael Jackson’s comeback shows in London, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011.
Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine, is suing AEG Live for $40 billion. The company have denied any wrongdoing.
The Jackson family claim AEG Live failed to properly investigate Conrad Murray and missed warning signs about the singer’s health.
David Berman, a former head of Capitol records, is testifying for Katherine Jackson during the on-going case in Los Angeles.
Asked whether it was appropriate for the concert company to attempt to hire a doctor on the singer’s behalf, David Berman said: “I believe that it’s highly inappropriate. It is highly unusual.”
Michael Jackson died in 2009 following an overdose of a powerful anaesthetic administered by Dr. Conrad Murray
He added that a more appropriate relationship would have been for Michael Jackson to hire cardiologist Conrad Murray without any involvement from AEG Live.
David Berman said that after viewing draft contracts and emails between AEG company executives, he believed AEG Live thought it controlled the physician.
He also said the company should not have negotiated with Conrad Murray without notifying Michael Jackson’s representatives.
The experienced executive, who worked with acts such as The Eagles, The Beach Boys and The Doors, is being paid $500 an hour to testify for Katherine Jackson.
David Berman retired from the music industry in 2001 to become an expert witness for music industry-related lawsuits.
AEG’s lawyers have objected to David Berman’s expertise, pointing out he has never been a tour producer or promoter.
An AEG lawyer showed David Berman a statement signed by Michael Jackson’s former manager, Frank Dileo, stating that he was aware of negotiations with Conrad Murray, and that it was his understanding that AEG Live’s CEO objected to bringing the physician on tour.
AEG have yet to question David Berman in court.
The company denies it hired Conrad Murray. The company’s executives and lawyers have said that AEG was merely advancing Michael Jackson the money to pay Conrad Murray, and a valid contract never existed.
Its executives have also stated that it agreed to pay Conrad Murray’s salary only because Michael Jackson insisted on him coming on tour.
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AEG Live’s CEO Randy Phillips claimed in court on Wednesday that Michael Jackson was “desperately broke” before his ill-fated This Is It comeback tour.
Randy Phillips made the claims as he testified for a sixth day at Michael Jackson’s wrongful death trial in a Los Angeles on Wednesday.
He told of an emotional Halloween meeting with Michael Jackson at a hotel where the singer claimed “they were living like vagabonds”.
Randy Phillips added: “He actually broke down and I broke down. We both broke down.
“He got emotional. He teared up about his family and having a good life with them and a place to live and a residence they could call their own.
“I felt incredibly bad that this incredible star was at the point where he just couldn’t buy a house with all this money he made. It just didn’t make sense.”
Randy Phillips also told AEG attorney Marvin Putnam: “It was the first time Michael really told me why he wanted to go back to work.”
Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine and his three children are suing the concert promoter, alleging it negligently hired, retained or supervised Dr. Conrad Murray, who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter over the singer’s 2009 death.
Meanwhile Randy Phillips also told jurors he knew Michael Jackson as a sophisticated, forceful businessman and not the drugged-up performer who’s been described throughout an ongoing civil trial filed over the singer’s untimely death.
Michael Jackson was a far more complex figure than has been portrayed during the trial of a case filed by Katherine Jackson against AEG Live over her son’s death, said Randy Philips, the company’s president and CEO.
Michael Jackson was desperately broke before This Is It Tour, promoter Randy Phillips claims in court
Randy Phillips said based on meetings he had with Michael Jackson in 2008 and early 2009, he found the singer to be a “sophisticated man who had control of his life”.
The portrait of Michael Jackson that’s been presented to the jury during the seven-week trial has been inaccurate, Randy Phillips said.
Michael Jackson was described by both sides in opening statements as struggling with prescription drug addiction throughout his life.
Randy Phillips said he disagreed with the descriptions of Michael Jackson “because he’s been presented as drug-addled 5-year-old. That was not the man I dealt with. The man I dealt with was forceful. Kind, but determined. He was a force”.
Jurors have been presented with conflicting accounts of Michael Jackson, even from Randy Philips. They will have to weigh the different portrayals when they decide who is liable for the singer’s June 2009 death.
Katherine Jackson’s lawyers contend AEG failed to properly investigate the doctor convicted of causing her son’s death, pushing her son too hard to perform and missed warning signs of his health.
AEG, however, contends Michael Jackson hid his addiction to the powerful anesthetic propofol and that the company could not have foreseen that the singer’s doctor was giving him the drug as a sleep aid.
Millions and possibly billions of dollars are at stake in the negligent hiring trial.
Randy Phillips said he didn’t see signs that Michael Jackson was struggling with prescription drugs when he met with the entertainer to discuss options for his This Is It comeback concerts scheduled for London’s O2 Arena in 2009. He has also told jurors that Michael Jackson never told him he was having trouble sleeping.
The executive has described the superstar as difficult to work with, often changing managers and ideas about what he wanted creatively.
In testimony later on Wednesday, Randy Phillips described having to coax Michael Jackson to a London press conference in March 2009 to announce his concerts.
Michael Jackson was a couple of hours late, appeared hung over and was concerned no one would want to see him perform.
“He is an emotionally paralyzed mess riddled with self-loathing and doubt now that it is show time,” Randy Phillips wrote his boss that day.
He testified that he just wanted to get through the event and forget it ever happened.
The six-man, six-woman jury has been shown numerous emails throughout the trial in which high-level tour workers expressed concerns about Michael Jackson’s health, his weight, and whether he was ready for the shows.
Many of the concerns were voiced by tour director Kenny Ortega, who Randy Phillips at one point told not to attempt to serve as an amateur doctor or psychiatrist.
Randy Phillips acknowledged earlier this week that statements he wrote to Kenny Ortega about Michael Jackson’s physician, Conrad Murray, were untrue.
Among those statements were Randy Phillips’ assertions that AEG Live had checked out Conrad Murray, and that the deeply indebted physician didn’t need the job.
Conrad Murray was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter for giving Michael Jackson a lethal dose of propofol. He is not a defendant in the civil case, although AEG Live lawyers said early they intend to call the former cardiologist as a witness.
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Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson’s father, has dropped a wrongful death case filed against doctor Conrad Murray, who was convicted of causing the singer’s death.
Joe Jackson began proceedings against Conrad Murray exactly one year after his son’s death, in June 2010.
He sought civil damages for a variety of issues, including loss of income and emotional distress.
A federal judge had refused to hear but it was later re-filed in a state court in Los Angeles.
Court documents show the request for dismissal was granted on Monday.
Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson's father, has dropped a wrongful death case filed against doctor Conrad Murray, who was convicted of causing the singer's death
The filings do not elaborate on the reasons for dropping the case, but two lawyers involved with it were recently ruled ineligible to practice law in California.
Conrad Murray’s attorney, Charles Peckham, welcomed the decision.
“It’s good finally that this case is dismissed and gone,” he said on Wednesday.
“It’s pretty clear that Joe Jackson intelligently and smartly dismissed this case so he, his wife and children can focus on Michael Jackson’s life instead of the circumstances of his death.”
He added that Conrad Murray, who remains jailed while he appeals his conviction for involuntary manslaughter, was still pained by Jackson’s death and feels sorry for his family.
“His heart goes out to them,” Charles Peckham said.
Joe Jackson’s case claimed Conrad Murray repeatedly lied to paramedics and doctors about giving Jackson the anaesthetic propofol and that he did not keep adequate medical records, both issues that prosecutors raised against Murray during his trial last year.
Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine, continues to pursue a case against concert company AEG Live alleging it negligently hired and supervised Murray, whose treatments were administered while the pop star was rehearsing for a 50-date comeback show at London’s O2 arena.
Her case is scheduled for trial in April.
Monica Hussing and William Robinson Sr. from Clevland, Ohio, who failed to seek medical care for their cancer-stricken son because they said they couldn’t afford medical care have pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Their son, Willie Robinson, 8, died of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2008 after begging his parents to get him medical care, according to prosecutors. The prosecutors say that had he received treatment, the youngster would have had a 96% chance of making a full recovery.
The parents claim they never took their cancer-stricken son to the doctor because they didn’t have the money.
But somehow, they found the cash to have their family pit bull treated for fleas, prosecutors say.
Willie Robinson, 8, died of Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2008 after begging his parents to get him medical care, according to prosecutors
Monica Hussing, 37 and William Robinson, 40, have been free on $150,000 bail each in Cleveland, since their son died. On Monday, the parents pleaded guilty to attempted involuntary manslaughter and face up to eight years in prison.
Monica Hussing’s lawyer blamed Willie’s death on the fact that the parents, who still have five children, were poor and did not have health insurance.
“Unfortunately, these people did not have that ability to get the proper health care and I think the entire system both in Warren, in Trumbull County and in Cuyahoga County it was just a little bit of… the ball was dropped,” John Luskin told WJW.
But prosecutors say as Willie Robinson was dying a horrible, but preventable, death, his parents paid $87 to take their pit bull Petey to a veterinarian and have it treated for fleas.
After ignoring his pleas for medical help, Willie Robinson collapsed at their home March 22, 2008. It was then Monica Hussing and William Robinson finally took him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with cancer and died later that day.
The coroner ruled the boy’s death, caused by cancer and pneumonia, a homicide, meaning it was the result of his parents’ actions.
Authorities say none of the couple’s five other children, now 17, 16, 10, 9 and 8, received medical care. All of them have been removed from their parents and are living with an aunt.
The parents also kept their children out of school. Willie Robinson never saw a classroom in his short life, authorities say.
Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is cancer of lymph tissue found in the lymph nodes, spleen, liver and bone marrow. Symptoms include: fatigue, fever and chills, loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss.
It is the most common form of childhood cancer and the most treatable, with up to 96% of children surviving at least five years after the cancer goes into remission.
