Jacksons – AEG trial. PRINCE JACKSON’S TESTIMONY part 2

ABC7 tweets about Prince Jackson’s testimony have finally appeared on their Twitter page, so let me present them to you too.

The tweets are more detailed than those of TeamMichaelJackson and are accompanied by unique photos, however in comparison with TeamMJ some points are ommitted (for example, the talk about AEG’s lawyers being mean to Prince), the matter of “no one allowed to go upstairs” looks exaggerated and even misrepresented (judging by TeamMJ’s tweets Prince never said it)  and what’s much more important, the fact that Prince saw Phillips and Tohme agressively talking to Murray on the last day of Michael’s life is not made by ABC clear enough.

ABC says that Prince saw both of them in the Carolwood house the day before his father’s death. Technically this is correct as Michael died on June 25th morning, and Prince is talking about the June 24th evening prior to that.

However it was still Michael’s last day and we know it because Prince made a call to his father that evening and told him that Phillips and Tohme were at the house. And this was the last time he talked to his father at all. And since after that Prince did not see his father alive it means that this was indeed the night of June 24th.

So as this AEG story of Michael Jackson’s abuse and humiliation is quickly acquiring new criminal shades, let’s not allow anyone to confuse us over the matter that Phillips and Tohme were in Michael’s home on the last day of his life and they were twisting Murray’s hands over some issues that night.

Here are the ABC7 Court News tweets about Prince’s testimony on June 26th, 2013. This will be followed by a video deposition of Tim Leiweke, AEG’s then boss (now dismissed). The pictures shown to the jury are unique and have never been seen by us before:

1	Good Morning from the courthouse in downtown LA. Day 38 of Jackson family vs AEG trial to begin shortly.
2	Prince Jackson is already in the courthouse. He’s wearing a suit and tie.
3	Lots of media and fans present today. Our report Miriam Hernandez is in the courtroom. We are in the overflow room as well.
4	Prince arrived with Katherine, TJ and Trent Jackson. He’s wearing a dark suit and dark tie, white shirt.
5	Jackson’s attorney Brian Panish did direct examination. Prince Michael Joseph Jackson sworn in at 9:57 am PT. “Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr.”
6	Prince was originally named after the family name, but then his brother Blanket was born and they called him Prince.
7	Prince: A little bit
8	Panish: Are you nervous?
9	He said he was born on Feb 13, 1997, he’s 16 years old. Prince was born at CedarsSinaiHospital.
10	Prince said Paris he’s 15 years old, born on Apr 3, 1998. Prince Michael Joseph Jackson, known as Blanket, was born on Feb 21, 2001; he’s 11
11	Prince said he attends BuckleySchool in Sherman Oaks, has just finished up sophomore year.
12	Picture shown to the jury of MJ and Prince trying to play the piano. pic.twitter.com/rZ35fvZtw6

13	Prince and his little sister Paris Jackson. pic.twitter.com/1mIFzVSqyV

14	Blanket, Prince and Paris Jackson. Prince likes guns, but said his dad didn’t. pic.twitter.com/StUC9U9C5T

15	Prince is taking US History class in the summer, a very compact course. He belongs to the National honor society, received artistic award.
16	Prince used to play football and basketball, did martial arts.
17	In school Prince works with metal. He said he’s the mechanic, there is a team that design robots and they compete nationally.
18	Prince said he has a 3.68 GPA. He said education is something important to him because it is something his dad taught them.
19	Prince wants to go to college at USC to study either Film, or Mechanical science or business.
20	Prince described how Michael taught him to find the good shots in movies, encouraged him to learn about films.
21	MJ’s son said community service is required in school and he does it at the Children’s Hospital in LA.
22	He described how he brought books and read to the kids that were in the cancer wards.
23	Prince said he wants to help out as much as he can, got the desire to help from his father.
24	Prince said he lived in Neverland and in France. Neverland was a property his dad owned and he lived there until he was 6 years old.
25	After the criminal case there were some complications in the house from the police; I guess they ruined the house for him Prince testified
26	I cannot play and definitely cannot sing, Prince said when they showed the piano picture.
27	Paris and Prince. pic.twitter.com/HSi5MYMscl

28	Prince said MJ always dressed them up so when he grew up, he could show his kids how he looked when little pic.twitter.com/qWDsNrm3JE

29	Paris Jackson pic.twitter.com/tItNLL4CiJ

30	About Neverland, Prince explained: “When my dad bought the house, he built it for the kids he wanted to have, he built it for us.”
31	Prince said that Neverland was a family home, that everyone was family, from housekeeper to nanny. He said they had amusement park and zoo.
32	Prince said Neverland’s zoo had pet giraffe, alpacas; amusement park, poetry his dad wrote.
33	We only went there (amusement park and zoo) for special occasions, because my dad wanted us to remain humble, Prince said.
34	Prince said MJ loved making films of them. Panish showed several home movies and pictures of the children and Michael.
35	MJ wrote the song”The Lost Children”  for his children, Panish played clips of the song.
36	Prince said that after Neverland they travelled a bit: went to Bahrain,  Ireland, Dubai, Aspen and New York for a little, and then to Vegas.
37	My dad had a lot of business, not just music, and he wanted to take us, he didn’t want to leave us, Prince testified.
38	Nanny changed from time to time, but mostly it was Grace Rwamba, Prince said. pic.twitter.com/P8ythTNzoR

39	He (MJ) wanted to know what we were learning, Prince said. “He wanted to know how we were doing in school, how we could better the world.”
40	Prince: We wrote a lot of screenplays, my dad taught me how to write scripts, helped me unlock thinking with the right side of my brain.
41	Prince described how he and MJ would first watch movie without sound to learn to find the good shots.
42	We watched the sound afterwards and he would show how the sound could actually make or break the movie, Prince said.
43	At this point, some fans crying in the overflow room.
44	Panish showed a Christmas video, where MJ is asking the kids what they wanted to do in life. He told Paris to search your heart.
45	Paris said she wanted help the poor, and be a gymnast.
46	Prince testified that day was the first time his dad taught him how to tie a tie.
47	Every time he would ask how we would help the world, Prince said. “Most my work ethics I learned from my dad.”
48	Panish asked if Prince would describe his father as “lazy.”
49	I don’t think he ever sat and did nothing, we were always running, exercising, he would teach me how to drive, Prince responded.
50	Prince said he really didn’t know how famous his dad was until he watched movie of MJ’s concert with girls crying, taken out in stretchers.
51	We always listened to his music, but we never knew how famous he was, Prince said.
52	Panish inquired about the masks the children wore while with MJ in public. pic.twitter.com/KpyWBnWpRk

53	He used to make sure no one would know how we looked like; when we went out no one would recognize us, we could be normal kids Prince said
54	Panish: Was you dad protective of you?
55	Prince: Very
56	Prince said Grace worked with MJ before he was born then came on as nanny after his sister was born. She worked with them for about 12 years
57	Grace, Paris and Prince Jackson. pic.twitter.com/Z222fNR2fF

58	Grace, Paris and Blanket. pic.twitter.com/HNINi0XtEs

59	Recent photo of Grace and Blanket. pic.twitter.com/dHrccTKAjL

60	Panish played clip of song “You are my life”, which MJ wrote for the kids. Prince watched.
61	Next Panish played video of the Christmas when kids got their chocolate Labrador dog named Kenya.
62	Panish: How did you feel then?
63	Prince: Very happy
64	Panish: How did you feel when you, your brother, sister and dad were living in Vegas?
65	Prince: That was happy for us
66	Prince said they lived in a hotel before moving to Carolwood before Christmas 2008.
67	Prince talked about MJ’s dealings with AEG and Dr. Tohme: No, from what he (MJ) told me he wasn’t happy with it.
68	He was very excited about the tour, this would’ve been probably last time we would be able to see him perform, Prince expressed.
69	Prince said he saw MJ perform once when he was little.
70	Prince said MJ would come home from rehearsal, he just wished he had more time to rehearse and have more time to prepare.

Let me interrupt them here and draw your attention to one important point which is the reason why they had so little time for rehearsals.

The contract between AEG and Michael Jackson very clearly set the date of beginning the shows as July 26th, 2009:

This was what the contract said. However when they were announcing the tour in March 2009 AEG first set the opening night for July 8th, or three weeks earlier than the date stipulated by the contract. Two months later, in May 2009 they reluctantly shifted it to July 13th, but even that date was two weeks earlier than the date they had presumably agreed about in January 2009.

It always amazed me that despite very little time they had for preparing the show AEG nevertheless chose to shift the beginning of the tour to a date three weeks earlier than the date stipulated by their own contract.

Why? What was the need to turn the mad race of those rehearsals into an even madder race by starting the tour earlier than they planned?

The answer is contained in the contract too. AEG wanted to cram as many shows as possible into the time limits they had, and since 31 shows within 64 days (between July 26  – September 30) literally meant doing a show every other day, they did a ‘favor’ to Michael and shifted the show opening to a date three weeks earlier –  though this was making the schedule of rehearsals even more intensive and crazier than it was!

And all this because of their greed. They wanted to make use of the period written down in the contract to its full capacity and cram there the maximum that was “pre-approved” (evidently between AEG and Tohme). However even in these circumstances it still makes you wonder why they chose to do it at the expense of the time on rehearsals, while they could simply extend the period of the tour into October 2009, for example.

Was it done because the trouble and inconvenience it caused to Michael Jackson did not matter to them? And what did it really matter to AEG if the time alloted for rehearsals should be cut by one third?

It is Michael Jackson and the dancers who are supposed to work twice as hard and not them. Let the dancers and the 50-year old star have one day off only and the matter is settled. “It’s business, you know” as Randy Phillips likes saying.

And now we learn from Michael’s son that Michael was fatigued, exhausted, came home tired and “just wished he had more time to rehearse and more time to prepare”. I am afraid that Michael’s fear that they were going to kill him does not look like it was a mere a figure of speech….

71	Prince saw MJ on the phone. Most of the times, it was with Randy Phillips or Dr. Tohme.
72	He’d get off the phone, he would cry sometimes, Prince said. “They are gonna kill me, they are gonna kill me,” Prince said MJ would say
73	He (MJ) would say they are gonna kill me, they are gonna kill me”, Prince testified, referring mostly to AEG and Randy Phillips, and Tohme
74	My dad didn’t fight, he was like my grandma, too kind to fight, that’s why he called my grandpa, Prince said.
75	Prince: When at the Bel Air Hotel, my dad tried to fire Dr. Tohme. He got in a fight on the phone, yelled
76	Prince: We applauded him, we didn’t like being around him (Dr. Tohme), he brought bad energy to us.
77	My dad was always optimistic, Prince said.
78	Prince said he first met Dr Conrad Murray in Vegas. “He came over to our house to treat us for multiple sickness, cold and things like that”
79	Prince said he remembers Cherilyn Lee coming to the house to give his dad IVs. He said he thought it was vitamins.
80	Dr. Murray came over every day, except Sunday night. He spent the nights, Prince said.
81	I saw him give my dad IV injection once, I thought it was vitamins, Prince recalled about Dr. Murray.
82	Prince said that when Dr. Murray first started treating MJ he would do it in the library, and later on in the master bedroom upstairs.
83	Panish: Did your dad write notes?
84	Prince: All the times, on mirrors, bathroom doors. Sometimes it was song lyrics or messages he got down from religious or spiritual leaders
85	Prince showed where his bedroom was. Paris had her own, Blanket would go back/forth between their bedrooms pic.twitter.com/jdOtJ4ht7a

86	Prince said Blanket excels in school.
87	To my understanding the door to his bedroom was locked Prince said. “When I tried I think he was meditating on Skype with person from India”
88	Prince said he saw IV bags and oxygen tanks at the house.
89	Panish: Did you think it was weird to have oxygen tanks?
90	Prince: No, I was 12 and to my understanding he (Dr. Murray) was supposed to make sure my dad stayed healthy.
91	Prince said AEG wasn’t paying Murray and MJ felt bad. “My dad used to give me couple hundred dollars to give to Murray,” Prince testified.
92	I’d give him but he’d only take a portion of it Prince recalled. He said money was to help Murray with the basics like food, water and gas
93	Phillips would come either with Dr. Tohme or some other man to his house, Prince said.
94	I saw him talk twice to Dr. Murray, Prince testified. “He was grabbing his elbow and looked aggressive to me.”
95	He (Phillips) was grabbing him (Dr. Murray) by the back of the elbow, they were really close, Prince recalled.
96	Panish: Did it surprise you?
97	Prince: Yes
98	Prince said MJ was in rehearsals either the night before or 2 nights before he died, Phillips showed up at the house to talk to Dr. Murray.
99	I came in and asked if they’d like something to drink or eat, Prince said. “Randy Phillips was talking to Dr. Murray, grabbing his elbow.”
100	As to Dr. Tohme, Prince said: From what I heard he’s not even a real doctor.
101	I was surprised they were all in the house, Prince said. “I hadn’t seen Dr. Tohme in a while, I still didn’t like him.”
102	From my perspective back then I thought he was healthy, Prince said about MJ.
103	A few weeks later, Prince said MJ was working a lot and looked really, really skinny, almost malnourished.
104	Prince: Sometimes he would be really cold. Sometimes really hot. He was not strong enough.
105	Prince said he saw MJ last the day before he died. Last phone conversation was when he called his dad to say Randy Phillips was at the house
106	The day MJ died, Prince recalled being downstairs in the sitting room. He heard screaming coming from upstairs.
107	I ran into the kitchen, saw Dr. Murray go back upstairs, Alberto just came inside, Kai said Dr Murray wanted me upstairs, Prince described
108	I saw Dr. Conrad doing CPR on my dad, Prince testified. “My dad was hanging halfway off the bed and his eyes were rolled back in his head”
109	Me and my sister came upstairs, Prince said. “My sister was screaming the whole time, she wanted her daddy.” Kids were escorted downstairs
110	I was waiting in the bottom of the stairs crying, Prince said. He saw the stretcher take MJ to the hospital. They followed the ambulance.
111	My dad always told us that angels always look out for us, Prince said. He tried to comfort his siblings.
112	Prince said Frank DiLeo and Dr. Murray told them ‘sorry kids, dad is dead.’ They said it was a heart attack
113	I just cried, Prince recalled
114	Sister Rose, my sister, my brother, me, security guard, Dr. Conrad Murray and Frank DiLeo were in the room.
115	Fans cried in the overflow room
116	Prince said Paris speaking during the memorial service was not planned.
117	Prince said he now lives with his grandma, cousin Trent, his sister and brother in Calabasas.
118	Prince said they go back to Gary, Indiana for memorial services in the house MJ grew up on. pic.twitter.com/OvA00e5kRB

119	Prince at Children’s Hospital doing community service pic.twitter.com/3cqDZ7dSFv

120	Children with grandma Katherine pic.twitter.com/wup9elfYWv

121	Prince in Germany pic.twitter.com/cOD7MXXXvg

122	Prince in his first TV debut as reporter/host of entertainment show pic.twitter.com/hw81E8WJps

123	Paris Jackson pic.twitter.com/9vLyRsDPff

 

124	Blanket pic.twitter.com/Y7Tleftm7w

The best picture of Blanket so far

125	Children during MJ’s memorial service. pic.twitter.com/21wZjmb2NS

126	Prince said his grandma Katherine Jackson and cousin TJ are his guardians.
127	After MJ died: I can’t sleep at night, have hard time sleeping Prince said. “For a while, I became emotionally distant from lot of people”
128	Prince said he wished his father was with him 1st day of school, talk about his first girlfriend, being able to drive, see his awards/honors
129	Panish: Do you think your dad is proud of your robotics work?
130	Prince: Maybe, I tried making him proud
131	Prince: I think out of my siblings she (Paris) was hit the hardest, she was my dad’d little princess. She’s dealing with it in her own way
132	Panish: Is she going through a rough time?
133	Prince: Yes, she is
134	Me and my sister don’t celebrate birthdays, it was something we did with our dad, Prince said.
135	Prince: Blanket was so young, my brother is still growing up like I am, he doesn’t have a dad to tell him what’s right and wrong
136	Panish: Do you miss your dad a lot?
137	Prince: Yes
138	We have someone, but it’s just not the same, Prince said.
139	Panish finished his questioning. Marvin Putnam, attorney for AEG, did the cross examination.
140	Putnam asked why MJ wouldn’t give Dr. Murray money himself. “My dad tried to, but he would’ve never take the money,” Prince said.
141	I saw my dad offer money to him, but he would never take it, Prince explained.
142	Putnam: Did you father give money to Dr. Murray?
143	Prince: Not directly
144	Prince: He (MJ) never gave him (Dr. Murray) the cash directly, he would always give it us to give to Dr. Murray. He would only take half.
145	Reached twitter limit… Resuming now.
146	I don’t think Dr. Murray wanted to take the money from my dad, he felt bad, Prince said.
147	Me & my sister would do it, he remembers a couple of times. Prince said in deposition it was about 10 times, but Murray would not always take it
148	Prince said MJ started giving Prince and Paris money to give to Dr. Murray while they were living in Las Vegas.
149	Prince said there was a man chef who took Kai Chase’s job in May 2009, then was let go and Chase went back.
150	Prince said he didn’t remember seeing anyone giving MJ’s IV, other than Cherilyn Lee.
151	Putnam: No employees were allowed upstairs?
152	Prince: Yes
153	Prince said there was a time in 2009 no one was allowed to go upstairs. Only Dr. Murray could.
154	Prince testified that not even the housekeeper was allowed to go upstairs.
155	Prince said that when Cherilyn Lee was treating MJ, she would do it in the open, there was no door to lock.
156	He said when Dr. Murray started, he also did it in the open.
157	Prince said he learned MJ’s bedroom door was locked when he was playing hide and go seek and couldn’t get in.
158	As to Dr. Tohme, Prince said he knew him for about 3 years. He said he never regularly saw him, though.
159	Prince said he saw Murray and Phillips talking two times. He doesn’t remember dates, but thinks the 2nd meeting was the day before MJ died
160	Prince said security would let AEG people and Dr. Tohme in, but “people like my grandpa were turned away.”
161	Prince said in re-direct he wasn’t scared during his deposition, apologized to the jury for not wear suit that day; it was the weekend
162	After his deposition, Prince said he told TJ that Paris shouldn’t be able to do that and go through the questioning.
163	She had some problems before, after and I assuming during her deposition, Prince said.
164	Panish: She had some emotional problems after her deposition?
165	Prince: Yes
166	Prince said Dr. Murray wasn’t getting paid and that his dad wanted to help him out until he got paid.
167	AEG was supposed to pay him, Prince said. “Something was going on with Dr. Murray’s finance and he wasn’t getting paid.”
168	Prince remembered Cherilyn Lee being a nurse. Panish asked if Prince knew what Lee was injecting MJ with.
169	I thought it was for my dad, so he could get the proteins he needed, he was burning so much, Prince responded.
170	In re-cross, Putnam asked why deposition was on Saturday. Prince said he thinks it was due to school; continued another day
171	Putnam: Do you remember your grandma thanking us for being so accommodating?
172	Prince: I don’t remember that
173	Panish: Did you think he was being a lawyer representing his client?
174	Prince: As a defense lawyer, yes
175	It’s not how I want to spend my Saturday, Price said about his deposition.
176	Prince was then excused, subject to recall should AEG choose
177	Prince’s testimony ended at lunch hour. Everyone was surprised it took only a couple of hours. Attorneys expected to last longer.

Next came the video deposition of Tim Leiweke, the then boss of AEG, the parent company of AEG Live headed by Randy Phillips.

Previously I thought that Phillips was the absolute limit of human indecency, but it looks like Leiweke is surpassing even him. The way he talks about the “drunk and despondent” email from Randy Phillips makes even Phillips’s insolence fade. Evidently the higher the AEG post is the greater the nastiness is. Which is no surprise of course – the bigger the crocodile is the deadlier it is. After Leiweke’s testimony I am even afraid to think what the Big Boss Anschutz is like.

One of Leiweke’s emails reveals that he thinks Anschutz to be a paranoid scrooge (“scrooge” is a symbol of greed). The fact that this email will sooner or later become common knowledge through this trial was what evidently cost Leiweke his job. Dismissing him was the beginning of AEG falling apart  –  I suggest they go on in the same manner and never stop.

178	After lunch, Jackson’s attorney played video deposition of AEG Inc. CEO and president Tim Leiweke.
179	Leiweke was the highest employee in the company in 2009. He said they have 130 different companies, 7-8 divisions within AEG.
180	Kevin Boyle: Are you aware the LA Kings have a team physician?
181	Leiweke: I would assume we do
182	I’m not sure who hires the doctors for the Kings, Leiweke said.
184	Boyle: Do the doctors work for the team or for the players?
183	Leiweke: I’m not sure
185	Leiweke said he didn’t remember the email Phillips sent him saying “MJ is locked in his room drunk and despondent.”
186	I got a call from Randy Phillips about the press conference, Leiweke said. However, he insisted he didn’t remember the email.
187	I said that five times, is that good enough? Leiweke responded.
188	Leiweke said Phillips called to say Michael had a hangover, they were late to get to the press conference and Randy was wound up.
189	A subsequent conversation, everyone had calmed down, Leiweke said. “He was informing me that the press conference was going to be delayed”
190	Leiweke said he was in an important meeting and asked Phillips to fill him in later.
191	I knew Randy had production costs issues, Leiweke said. Leiweke didn’t remember the exact number they had overspent.
192	Leiweke didn’t remember a specific board meeting where Phillips Anschutz was present and the tour budget was the sole topic.
193	Leiweke said he met Dr. Tohme once or twice in passing. He said he didn’t remember ever having a meeting with Dr. Tohme about MJ.
194	I remember it was an expensive commitment he was asking us to make, Leiweke said about the This Is It tour.
195	We wanted to make sure that he was healthy, Leiweke said. “I believe our folks had a medical for the purpose of MJ and his health.”
197	Boyle: Did you ever refer to Mr. Anschutz as paranoid scrooge?
196	Leiweke: I don’t remember any specific conversation
198	Boyle asked if Mr. Anschutz was concerned with ticket scalping. “There had never been in AEG Live anyone scalping tickets” Leiweke responded
199	Mr. Anschutz is very tight, Leiweke said. “I don’t remember this email but I remember him being concerned tickets were being scalped.”
200	Leiweke met Michael Jackson in person either 4 or 5 times.
201	Michael wanted to tour, Leiweke said about the first meeting. “AEG Live was interested.”
202	Second time was in the guest house of Ron Burkle in Los Angeles. Jessie Jackson was there too, Leiweke said.
204	Boyle: What was the reason of the meeting?
203	Leiweke: There wasn’t really one. We prayed a lot
205	Michael asked to meet Mr. Anschutz to talk about films, Leiweke said about the third meeting in Las Vegas.
206	Leiweke said he never met Murray and/or exchanged emails, calls with him. The exec didn’t remember specifically the 1st time he heard of him
207	Leiweke testified he never saw or heard the name Dr. Murray on pretour budgets.
208	I’ve never seen this email between Randy and Kenny, Leiweke said about the ‘Trouble at the Front’ email chain.
209	Boyle said the chain was forwarded to Leiweke. The exec apologized and said he doesn’t remember ever seeing the emails.
210	We were aware that MJ had missed several rehearsals, Leiweke said.
211	Leiweke wrote email saying “Trouble with MJ. Big Trouble.” He testified he didn’t remember this specific email.
212	That ended video testimony of Leiweke. It was admitted into evidence. Judge ended session early. Jurors ordered back tomorrow at 9:45 am PT
213	Tomorrow’s witnesses: TJ and Taj Jackson. Jackson’s attorney told us they aren’t sure if Paris will testify. It’s up to her doctor to ok it
214	We hope to see you tomorrow for complete coverage of the trial. Watch @ABC7 and http://www.abc7.com  for all the latest.

*  *  *

AEG’s and Murray’s attorneys deny that the meeting described by Prince Jackson ever happened. Putnam is planning to recall Prince to the witness stand later.

It is extremely interesting that the paragraph about Putnam’s reaction was added to the original article later and without any notice that the text was updated. The addition to the original text is marked red here:

JACKSON’S SON SAYS FATHER FEARED CONCERT PROMOTER

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY

— Jun. 26 8:24 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Jackson’s eldest son testified Wednesday that his father was excited about going back on tour before his death but wasn’t happy about the pressure that came with the ill-fated shows.

Michael Joseph “Prince” Jackson Jr. told jurors his father wanted more time to rehearse and had several tense phone conversations with promoters of his “This Is It” shows that sometimes ended with his father in tears.

The 16-year-old said his father remarked after one of the conversations, “They’re going to kill me.” He did not elaborate.

The testimony came in a lawsuit claiming AEG negligently hired Conrad Murray, the doctor who was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter for giving Jackson an overdose of the anesthetic propofol.

AEG denies it hired the physician or bears any responsibility for the entertainer’s death.

Wearing a black suit with a dark grey tie and his long brown hair tucked behind his ears, Prince testified that he saw AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips at the family’s rented mansion in a heated conversation with Murray in the days before his father died. The teenager said Phillips grabbed Murray’s elbow.

Phillips “looked aggressive to me,” Prince testified.

Michael Jackson wasn’t at home at the time and was probably rehearsing, Prince said.

Murray’s attorney Valerie Wass and AEG defense attorney Marvin S. Putnam later denied outside court that the meeting Prince described ever happened.

Putnam said Prince would be recalled to the witness stand during the defense case later in the trial.

“I think as the testimony will show when he is called in our defense that’s not what happened,” Putnam said. “He was a 12-year-old boy who has had to endure this great tragedy.”

For the first time, the teenager publicly provided details about the day his father died. Prince testified that he saw Murray performing CPR on his father, who was hanging halfway off a bed. It appeared his dad’s eyes were rolled up in the back of his head, Prince told jurors.

Prince’s eyes appeared red as he recalled being told by Murray at a hospital that his father was dead.

Prince said he never saw Murray’s treatments of his father.

“I was 12. To my understanding he was supposed to make sure my dad stayed healthy,” Prince testified.

Prince said none of the household staff was allowed upstairs at the mansion, and the singer kept his bedroom locked while receiving treatments from Murray.

During cross-examination, Putnam played a clip from a deposition of Prince in which the teen said he discovered the bedroom was locked when he and his siblings were playing hide-and-seek and couldn’t get inside.

Prince also said his father gave him and his sister Paris a stack of $100 bills on a few occasions to give to Murray. The teen said his father told him that Murray wouldn’t take the money from him, and the doctor wouldn’t take the full amount from the children.

The teenager said his understanding was that the money was meant to tide Murray over until he got paid by AEG Live.

Prince’s grandmother, Katherine Jackson, sat in the front row of the courtroom during his testimony. She held a tissue and removed her glasses several times.

The testimony began with the teenager showing jurors roughly 15 minutes of private family photos and home videos.

He described growing up on Neverland Ranch and showed the panel videos of the property’s petting zoos, amusement park and other amenities. After his father’s acquittal of child molestation charges, Prince described living in the Middle East, Ireland and Las Vegas.

He told the jury that his father was always working, but the children had no idea he was a global superstar.

“We always listened to his music, but we never knew how famous he was,” Prince said.

He said he and his sister Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson watched a video of one of their father’s performances and got a sense of his fame when overwhelmed fans were carried from his shows on stretchers.

Prince is the first Jackson family member to testify during the trial, now in its ninth week. Attorneys have said TJ Jackson, who serves a co-guardian to Prince and his siblings, and Taj Jackson, are also expected to take the witness stand. They are the sons of Tito Jackson.

Prince Jackson, his sister Paris and brother Prince Michael “Blanket” Jackson are plaintiffs in the case against AEG, which their grandmother and primary caretaker filed in August 2010.

Prince spoke softly as he began testifying, and the first exhibit shown to jurors was a photo taken with his grandmother on his and Paris’ first day of school.

He described his school life, including taking a summer course in U.S. history, participating on the school robotics team and volunteer work.

Another image showed Michael Jackson playing piano with his son while Prince was still a toddler.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Brian Panish asked Prince whether he was interested in pursuing a career in music.

“I can never play an instrument and I definitely cannot sing,” Prince said to laughter from the jury.

He said he wanted to study film or business when he goes to college.

The trial is expected to last several more weeks.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/jacksons-son-says-father-feared-concert-promoter

And here is an article by Alan Duke about Prince’s testimony. Every little detail is precious here. Look at this one – when Prince called his father and said that those two guys were on their house Michael asked his son to offer them food and drinks! Oh my God, these bullies were killing him and Michael and his son were polite and civil to them…

‘They’re going to kill me,’ Michael Jackson told son

By Alan Duke, CNN
June 27, 2013 — Updated 0003 GMT (0803 HKT)

Los Angeles (CNN) — Michael Jackson often cried after talking to AEG Live executives as he prepared for his comeback concerts, his oldest son testified Wednesday.

“After he got off the phone, he would cry,” Prince Jackson testified. “He would say ‘They’re going to kill me, they’re going to kill me.’”
His father told him he was talking about AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips and his ex-manager, Dr. Tohme Tohme, Prince said.
Prince, 16, began his testimony Wednesday morning in his family’s wrongful death lawsuit against Jackson’s last concert promoter, AEG Live.
His first 30 minutes on the stand were filled with videos and photographs of Jackson with his children, but then the questioning by Jackson lawyer Brian Panish focused on the last weeks of his father’s life.

Prince testified that Phillips visited Jackson’s rented Los Angeles mansion and spoke aggressively to Dr. Conrad Murray the night before his father’s death.
“He was grabbing his elbow,” Prince said. “It looked aggressive to me. He was grabbing by the back of his elbow and they were really close and he was making hand motions.”
He couldn’t hear what Phillips was saying to Murray, he said.

Michael Jackson was not there because he was at his last rehearsal, Prince said. He called his father from the security guard shack telephone to let him know Phillips was there. His father asked him to offer Phillips food and drink.
Prince said that was his last conversation with his father.

“Sorry kids, your dad’s dead”

Prince recounted the day his father died four years ago. He saw his father “hanging halfway off the bed, his eyes were rolled back,” when he ran into the bedroom where Dr. Murray was doing CPR in a futile effort to revive him, he said.
Paris followed him up the stairs, “but we kept pulling her down the stair,” he said.
“She was screaming the whole time saying she wants her daddy,” he said.
At the hospital later, Dr. Murray told them “Sorry kids, your dad’s dead,” Prince testified.
Prince was 12 when the pop icon died, but he said his father confided in him about whom he trusted and didn’t trust and what he feared as he prepared for his comeback concerts.

Michael Jackson’s three children — Prince, Paris and Blanket — and their grandmother Katherine Jackson are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which contends AEG Live is liable in Jackson’s death because the company hired, retained or supervised Murray, the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
Murray told investigators he gave Jackson nightly infusions of the surgical anesthetic propofol to treat his insomnia. The coroner ruled the singer died of an overdose of the drug.
AEG Live executives allegedly created a medical conflict of interest that pressured Murray to pursue the dangerous treatments so Jackson would be rested for rehearsals, while ignoring warning signs that his health was failing, Jackson family lawyers argue.
AEG Live lawyers contend that it was Jackson who chose and controlled the doctor and that company executives had no way of knowing what treatments Murray was delivering.

Prince Jackson’s 16th birthday gift: A career
AEG Live lead lawyer Marvin Putnam’s cross-examination of Prince lasted just 25 minutes. It centered on trying to discredit his testimony about Phillips’ visit to his home and about cash payments that Prince said his father gave Murray at times.
Prince stood by his story about the Phillips and Murray encounter, although he conceded it could have been two nights before his father’s death and not the last night.

The toll of losing their father

Prince’s testimony gave Jackson lawyers a chance to show jurors the emotional toll suffered by Jackson’s children, which they would have to put a dollar figure on if they conclude AEG Live is liable in their father’s death.
“I can’t sleep at night,” Prince said. “I have a hard time sleeping.” The death left him “emotionally distant from a lot of people” for a while, he said.
He’s missed sharing with his father “the first day of going to school, having the first girlfriend, being able to drive,” Prince testified.
While Paris Jackson’s suicide attempt and hospitalization was not brought up in court — and it is unclear if jurors learned about it in the news — Prince did speak about his sister.
“I think out of all of my siblings she was probably hit the hardest because she was my dad’s princess,” he said.
Prince said the questioning of Paris by AEG Live lawyers over two days in March was painful for her. “She had some problems before, after and, I assume, during,” he said.
“She definitely is dealing with it in her own way,” her brother said.
Paris, who was 11 when her father died, is not available to testify in person in court because she is hospitalized for psychiatric treatment.
While he and his sister no longer want to celebrate birthdays because “it’s not the same without” their father, Blanket, now 11, does, Prince said.
“Right now, I don’t know if Blanket realizes what he lost,” he said. “He was so young. He is still growing up just like I am and he doesn’t have a father to guide him.”
AEG Live attempted to compel Blanket, the youngest child, to testify, but the judge rejected its request after a psychologist said it would harm the boy.

Changing the world?

Jurors watched a home video of Michael Jackson questioning his three children about how they planned “to change the world” when they grow up.
Prince testified that the video was made at Christmas.
“What’s Christmas mean?” Jackson is heard asking his children.
“Love,” Blanket responded.
“Who’s Blanket going to be to change this world?” Jackson asked.
“I don’t know,” Blanket, who appeared to be about 5 at the time, answered.
“What does Paris want to do? Be honest search your heart,” Jackson said.
“Help the poor,” she answered. Paris also said she would like to be a gymnast.
Prince told his father he aspired to be a movie director and architect because he liked “making things.”

Private details revealed

Prince, who said his grade point average is 3.68 at the private school in Sherman Oaks, California, at the end of his sophomore year. He is a member of the National Honors Society and received artistic awards at school, he said.
His extracurricular activities include martial arts and working as a mechanic in his school’s robotics program, he said. He wants to attend the University of Southern California to study film and business, he said.
His father taught him how “the great ones” made movies, including how to “find shots.” He gave him a lens that hung on a necklace that showed what a shot would look like, he said.
Prince said while his school requires a certain amount of community service, he’s does more than that. He volunteers at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles in a program that delivers books to young patients “to keep their minds off their problems.”
His father “always said you should give back to the community and help out as much as you can,” Prince said.
The jury was shown video of Jackson and his children at the Neverland Ranch where they lived until moving after Jackson was acquitted in a child molestation trial.
The family moved after the court case “because there were complications,” Prince said. “They ruined it for my dad.”
One video showed a giraffe and several alpacas in the Neverland Zoo. “I never really went near them because they would spit on us,” Prince said.
The video also showed the carnival rides at Neverland. “We only went there and to the zoo on special occasions because my dad wanted us to remain humble,” he said.
When shown a photo of his father sitting with him at a piano, Prince said “I can never play an instrument and I definitely can’t sing.”
The trial is in its ninth week and is expected to last until August.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/26/showbiz/jackson-death-trial/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

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Here is the full transcript provided by TeamMichaelJackson (please help them to buy more transcripts):

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