AEG exec discusses Jackson interactions, emails


A look at key moments this past week in the wrongful death trial in Los Angeles between Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, and concert giant AEG Live LLC, and what is expected at court in the week ahead:

THE CASE

Jackson's mother wants a jury to determine that the promoter of Jackson's planned comeback concerts didn't properly investigate Dr. Conrad Murray, who a criminal jury convicted of involuntary manslaughter for Jackson's June 2009 death. AEG's attorney says the case is about personal choice, namely Jackson's decision to have Murray serve as his doctor and give him doses of a powerful anesthetic as a sleep aid. Millions, possibly billions, of dollars are at stake.

Several minutes of awkward questions lobbed at Gongaware over an email he sent to an assistant for one of his bosses "an absolute babe" as he described her in which he wrote that concert preparations were giving him nightmares and cold sweats. Gongaware insisted he was joking about the reactions.

WHAT HAPPENED THIS PAST WEEK

Jurors heard from AEG Live executive Paul Gongaware, who reluctantly testified that he negotiated a deal with Murray to work with Jackson on the tour for $150,000 a month. He told the panel he didn't investigate the doctor's background, but consulted with a physician friend who told him that he would have gone on the tour for $10,000 a week.

Gongaware described his interactions with the singer while preparing for "This Is It" and said he only saw Jackson impaired once, after a visit with his dermatologist.

WHAT THE JURY SAW

Dozens of emails Gongaware sent or received during preparations for the "This Is It" tour, including several where Jackson's health was described as poor and declining.

QUOTABLE MOMENTS

"Michael Jackson insisted on it and recommended him and it was not for me to tell him no," Gongaware said of discussions with Jackson about bringing Murray on the tour.

"He was good. He was engaged, he was alert. He was paying attention. ... I watched him pretty carefully in the meetings we had," Gongaware said of Jackson in 2009 meetings.

OUTSIDE THE COURTROOM

A plane flying a banner that reads, "Follow the $ to Michael Jackson's Death" made the rounds in the skies over Los Angeles, appearing downtown, at the beach on Memorial Day weekend and over the corporate offices of AEG Live.

WHAT'S NEXT

AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips is expected to be on the witness stand much of the upcoming week after Gongaware is done answering questions posed by a defense attorney.

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