In a telling piece of testimony, a lawyer who represented AEG when a contract was drawn up for Conrad Murray, the doctor held responsible for manslaughter in the case of pop star Michael Jackson's death, testified on behalf of the defense at the Jackson family's case against AEG. Kathy Jorrie was reportedly involved in the contractual negotiations with Murray. Regardless of what Jorrie testified, the Jackson have accused AEG of negligently hiring Murray, while the company has denied having a role in the hiring. Whether that will change due to this testimony remains unseen.
Jorrie testified that Murray told her he was leaving four clinics that brought in more than a million dollars each in order to work for Jackson. Testimony at Murray's trial concluded that he ran only two clinics, and his Las Vegas location was more than $1 million in debt. Perhaps that's why Murray was asking for nearly $1 million a month to care for Jackson. When he settled for $150,000 a month, he was still being paid far more than anyone else in Jackson's employ and anyone associated with the "This Is It" concert series.
Even at the "discounted" rate, the contract with AEG created a conflict of interest for the doctor, according to David Berman, an entertainment attorney and former head of Capitol Records. The contract supposedly indicated that AEG could cancel it at any time. Therefore if the "This Is It" series were to be cancelled, Murray would likely be fired as a result. So if all the testimony up to this point in the trial has been accurate, Jackson may have been far too weak to perform, but Murray was pushing him using unhealthy methods, such as nightly propofol treatments, in order to protect the doctor's own interests. Berman implied that this would prove hiring negligence on the part of AEG.
The trial is now in its fifteenth week, and is expected to continue on into September. The Jacksons are suing for nearly $40 billion in damages.
