Opening statements are scheduled to begin on Monday in a small Los Angeles courtroom in Michael Jackson's wrongful-death trial, CNN reports, and the proceedings could bring plenty of drama. The witness list includes such luminaries as Diana Ross, Spike Lee and Quincy Jones.
Jackson's mother, Katherine, and children have accused AEG Live, the promoters of his "This Is It" concert, of negligence in hiring Dr. Conrad Murray and are seeking billions of dollars in compensation for the money Jackson would have earned had he lived. The family will argue that the company was aware of Jackson's weakened condition and his history of drug use while on tour.
… The central issue is simple: Did AEG Live, the company promoting Jackson's comeback concerts in 2009, hire or supervise Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's June 25, 2009, death?
Jackson died two weeks before his "This Is It" comeback concerts, organized by AEG Live, were to have debuted in London.
The coroner ruled Jackson died from a fatal combination of sedatives and propofol, a surgical anesthetic that Murray told investigators he used to put Jackson to sleep almost every night in the month before his death …
Read more at CNN.
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