Three weeks after Michael Jackson died, the concert giant behind his doomed comeback tour sent a letter to his estate asking to recoup $300,000 that it never even paid the doctor who overdosed him, a jury heard Monday.
The letter was sent by AEG Live’s Chief Financial Officer Frederick Webking on July 17, 2009, AEG General Counsel Shawn Trell confirmed for jurors hearing a negligence lawsuit in Los Angeles.
“That’s $300,000 that AEG Live is trying to recoup from Michael Jackson’s estate after he died, (correct)?” asked Brian Panish, a lawyer representing the singer’s mom and children in the megabucks case.
“I think you’d have to ask Mr. Webking why it’s included,” Trell responded.
“Well, it’s included, right?” Panish shot back.
“Yes,” Trell said.
“You would have expected Mr. Webking to be honest and truthful, (correct)?” Panish asked.
“You’d have to speak with him about that line item. To me it’s a mistake,” Trell conceded.
Katherine Jackson sat in the front row of the courtroom Monday, showing little emotion as her lawyer grilled Trell.
She filed her lawsuit in 2010 claiming AEG negligently hired and supervised Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor now serving four years for providing a lethal dose of the surgery-strength anesthetic to Michael in his bedroom on June 25, 2009.
AEG has denied any wrongdoing, saying it was Michael who personally hired Murray and that the company never paid the Las Vegas cardiologist a cent.
Trell admitted that his company’s bean counters made another error when they listed Murray’s $150,000-per-month negotiated salary as a production cost on AEG budgets.
Source: NYTimes / MJ-Upbeat.com
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