A bitter war of words erupted between concert promoter AEG and Michael Jackson’s family today ahead of a $40billion (£26billion) trial over who is to blame for the pop star’s death.
The late singer’s children Prince, 16, Paris, 14, and Blanket, 10, and mother Katherine, 82, are seeking record damages in a wrongful death lawsuit claiming AEG was guilty of negligence which contributed to Jackson’s death.
Jurors were due to be sworn in today in Los Angeles for a case set to reveal new details of Jackson’s final days, with Prince and Paris both due to testify.
The Jacksons are seeking £6.6 billion for lost future earnings and £19.8 billion in damages, claiming the organisers of his abortive comeback tour failed to carry out proper checks in hiring or supervising Dr Conrad Murray.
Jackson’s personal doctor is serving four years after he was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 2011. Murray administered the sedatives which caused the singer’s death.
The singer died aged 50 in June 2009, shortly before he was due to begin the This Is It tour, a sold-out series of 50 concerts at the O2 Arena.
Lawyers for AEG are set to argue that Jackson was responsible for his own death because of his addiction to prescription drugs and his penchant for “doctor shopping” to find medics who would prescribe what he wanted. They will seek to prove Murray was hired by Jackson himself.
The civil trial, expected to last two to three months, was due to start with an application for the proceedings to be televised.
AEG’s lawyers have argued it could create a fan “frenzy” outside the courthouse.
Marvin Putnam has already criticised the decision to call Prince and Paris to testify saying it was being done for the “emotional response”.
He said: “They may want to try to make the world believe AEG Live is doing something inappropriate as to these children, but I’d ask the world to pause for a moment and look at what’s actually happening here. They’re the ones bringing this lawsuit and they’re the ones who are saying they’re going to put these children on the stand, something that I’m relatively certain their father would never, ever want.”
Allegations of child abuse against the singer are due to be raised as part of the promoter’s case that Jackson was mentally unstable.
In a documentary to be screened on CNN on Friday, Mr Putnam says: “I don’t know how you can’t look to Mr Jackson’s responsibility there. ”
He said the 2005 child molestation trial, in which Jackson was acquitted, “resulted in an incredible increase in his drug intake”.
Jackson lawyer Kevin Boyle said: “The truth about what happened to Michael, which AEG has tried to keep hidden from the public since the day Michael died, is finally emerging. We look forward to the trial where the rest of the story will come to light.”
