Los Angeles (CNN) -- A "smoking gun" e-mail
allegedly connecting a concert promoter to Michael Jackson's death was
revealed this week as a judge unsealed documents in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Jackson's mother and children.
The trial next month in
Los Angeles could shed new light on the pop icon's last days as Dr.
Conrad Murray, who did not testify at his own involuntary manslaughter
trial, and Jackson's oldest son Prince, 16, are on the witness list.
Jackson died two weeks
before his "This Is It" comeback concerts, organized by AEG Live, were
to have debuted in London in the summer of 2009. E-mails suggested that
the promoter was worried about Jackson's missed rehearsals and they
sought Murray's help in getting him ready.
Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson and their grandmother, Katherine Jackson,
contend that AEG Live's pressure on Murray to have Michael Jackson
ready for daily rehearsals despite his fragile health led to his death
from an overdose of surgical anesthetic.
The judge ruled Wednesday
that Jackson lawyers have shown enough evidence that AEG Live hired and
supervised Murray to warrant a jury trial. She also ruled there was
evidence to support the Jacksons' claim that AEG Live executives could
have foreseen that Murray would use dangerous drugs in treating the pop
icon.
"Now that the court has
ruled that there is evidence that it was foreseeable that AEG's actions
resulted in Michael Jackson's death, the Jackson family feels vindicated
from the public smear campaign that AEG has waged against them,"
Jackson lawyer Kevin Boyle said Sunday. "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."
A cornerstone of the Jacksons' case is an e-mail AEG Live Co-CEO Paul Gongaware wrote 11 days before Jackson's June 25, 2009, death.
The e-mail to show director Kenny Ortega addressed concerns that Murray
had kept Jackson from a rehearsal the day before: "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."
Jackson lawyers, calling
it a "smoking gun," argue the e-mail is evidence that AEG Live used
Murray's fear of losing his $150,000-a-month job as Jackson's personal
physician to pressure him to have Jackson ready for rehearsals despite
his fragile health.
Ortega, who had worked
closely with Jackson on previous tours, sounded a loud warning about his
health after Jackson showed up for a rehearsal shivering just over a
week before his death. He wrote in an e-mail to AEG Live
President Randy Phillips: "It is like there are two people there. One
(deep inside) trying to hold on to what he was and still can be and not
wanting us to quit him, the other in this weakened and troubled state. I
believe we need professional guidance in this matter."
Phillips responded with a
glowing endorsement of Murray: "This doctor is extremely successful (we
check everyone out) and does not need this gig so he is totally
unbiased and ethical."
Jackson lawyers point to
another e-mail exchange as evidence that Phillips was directly involved
with pressuring Murray to have Jackson at rehearsals. The e-mail was
sent by AEG Live tour accountant Timm Woolley to an insurance broker two
days before Jackson died: "Randy Phillips and Dr. Murray are
responsible for MJ rehearsal and attendance schedule."
Murray told
investigators two days after Jackson's death that he used the surgical
anesthetic propofol every night for two months to help him rest for
rehearsals. It was a procedure Jackson demanded, he said. The Los
Angeles County coroner ruled that Jackson had died from an overdose of
propofol in combination with sedatives. Murray is serving a prison sentence for his involuntary manslaughter conviction.
AEG Live argues it has
no liability in Jackson's death because Murray was not its employee. AEG
lawyer Marvin Putnam did not respond Sunday to CNN calls for comment,
but he did give a short statement last year: "Defendants did not hire
Dr. Murray nor were they responsible for the death of Michael Jackson."
The lawsuit seeks a
judgment against AEG Live equal to the money Jackson would have earned
over the course of his remaining lifetime if he had not died in 2009. If
AEG Live is found liable, it could cost the company several billion
dollars, according to estimates of Jackson's income potential. AEG Live
is a subsidiary of AEG, a global entertainment company that is now for
sale with an $8 billion asking price.
Los Angeles County
Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos, in her ruling rejecting AEG
Live's request to have the case thrown out, said she agreed that the
Jackson lawyers provided evidence that AEG Live didn't do "a sufficient
background check of Dr. Murray, which would have established that Murray
was deeply in debt."
Jackson's previous
relationship with Murray, who treated him and his children for minor
illnesses in Las Vegas, did not relieve AEG Live of liability, "although
the fact may be relevant in determining proportional liability and
damages," she said.
While the AEG Live
lawyers argued the company could not have foreseen that Murray might use
dangerous drugs on Jackson in preparation for the tour, Palazuelos said
there was evidence that Gongaware had "previous tour experiences" with
Jackson in which "tour doctors" gave "large amounts of drugs/controlled
substances to him." Gongaware testified in Murray's trial that he worked
as tour manager for Jackson's "Dangerous" and "History" tours before
joining AEG Live.
The judge cited
"Gongaware's general knowledge of the ethical issues surrounding 'tour
doctors' and the practice of administering drugs to performing artists."
"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," the judge wrote.
