Director of MJ's comeback show takes stand

Kenny Ortega,
the director of Michael Jackson's
aborted comeback show, began his
testimony Monday about what AEG
Live executives did and said in
Jackson's final days.
His first hours on the stand Monday
afternoon were spent discussing
Jackson's creativity, saying his voice,
songs and dancing were "like no one
else in his generation." He will return
Tuesday to resume his testimony.
Lawyers for Jackson's mother and
children argue in the wrongful death
trial against AEG Live that those
executives ignored warning signs
about his health and mental condition
that, if heeded, could have saved his
life.
The lawsuit contends the promoters
hired, retained or supervised Dr.
Conrad Murray, the physician
convicted of involuntary manslaughter
in Jackson's propofol overdose death.
AEG Live lawyers argue
that Jackson -- not their
executives -- chose and
controlled the doctor,
who was giving him
nightly infusions of the
surgical anesthetic in a
desperate search for
sleep in his last two
months.
Ortega, who knew
Jackson well and worked
with him closely preparing
his "This Is It" shows,
sounded a warning to
AEG Live CEO Randy
Phillips in an e-mail on
June 20, 2009 -- five days
before Jackson's death --
that Ortega did not think
the entertainer would be
ready for the shows.
He described seeing
"strong signs of paranoia,
anxiety and obsessive-like
behavior" with Jackson. "I
think the very best thing
we can do is get a top
psychiatrist to evaluate
him ASAP."
Expert: MJ was 'drug dependent,'
not addicted
AEG says Jackson was secretive about
his drug use, which the company
contends was an addiction, so there
was no way of knowing what
treatments Murray was giving Jackson
in his bedroom.
But a drug addiction expert testified
last week that there was "not a lot of
evidence to support" the belief that
Michael Jackson was addicted to
drugs.
If he was an addict, Jackson "would
be taking drugs that were not
prescribed by a medical professional,
taking larger amounts than prescribed
and have drug-seeking behavior," Dr.
Sidney Schnoll testified.
There was no evidence Jackson ever
took drugs that were not given to him
by a doctor or that he took more than
prescribed, Schnoll said.
The bottles of sedatives found in his
home after his death had more pills
remaining in them than he would
have expected if Jackson was an
addict, Schnoll said. This "indicated
these were not being taken on a
regular basis," he said.
Evidence shows Jackson sought drugs
from a number of doctors, but that
was not inappropriate because he
needed them "to treat a legitimate
medical problem," including back
pain, scalp pain and dermatologic
issues, Schnoll testified.
While not addicted, Jackson was
dependent on drugs, he said.
The painkillers that forced Jackson to
end his 1993 "Dangerous" tour early
so he could enter a rehab program
were taken to relieve the pain from
scalp surgery needed to repair burns
suffered when filming a Pepsi
commercial, Schnoll said.
The burns left scars on damaged
nerves in his scalp, which becomes
"excitable tissue" that "can be firing
just like the nerve," he said. The result
"can be every painful, like a burning
kind of pain -- persistent, sharp,
shooting kind of pain," he said. "It's
very uncomfortable and one of the
most difficult to treat."
Pain relief is a legitimate use of opioid
drugs and a person can function
normally if they are taken under a
doctor's care, he said.
President John Kennedy was opioid
dependent to relieve "very severe back
pain" while in the White House, he
said.
"He did alright as president?" Jackson
lawyer Michael Koskoff asked.
"It depends on your political
affiliation," Schnoll answered.
The Demerol injections Jackson got
during frequent visits to a Beverly Hills
dermatologist between April and his
death in late June 2009 were given for
legitimate medical reasons, Schnoll
testified.
If he were addicted to Demerol --
which is a powerful opioid -- he
would not have gone 43 days
between injections, which medical
records show, he said.
Jackson also went roughly 13 years --
from 1993 until 2008 -- without the
drug, he said. The doctor conceded
under cross-examination by an AEG
Live lawyer, however, that a gap in
available medical records may be
misleading.
Jackson's use of sedatives was an
effort to treat his chronic insomnia,
Schnoll said.
If the underlying sleep problem could
be resolved, the chances of ending
Jackson's use of the drugs would
have been good, he said.
There was no indication that Jackson
was addicted to propofol before
Murray began giving him nightly
infusions of the surgical anesthetic for
60 days leading up to his death, he
said.
Ortega, in his e-mail to AEG Live CEO
Phillips on June 20, wrote that "I
honestly don't think he is ready for
this based on his continued physical
weakening and deepening emotional
state."
He said Jackson was having trouble
"grasping the work" at rehearsals.
Production manager John "Bugzee"
Hougdahl wrote in an e-mail to
Phillips hours earlier that Ortega had
sent Jackson home from a rehearsal
that night because of his strange
behavior.
"I have watched him deteriorate in
front of my eyes over the last 8 weeks.
He was able to do multiple 360 spins
back in April. He'd fall on his ass if he
tried now," Hougdahl wrote. "He was
a basket case and Kenny was
concerned he would embarrass
himself on stage, or worse yet -- get
hurt. The company is rehearsing right
now, but the DOUBT is pervasive."
Phillips replied to Ortega: "Please stay
steady. Enough alarms have sounded.
It is time to put out the fire, not burn
the building down."
By "burn the building down," he
meant pulling the plug on the tour
that was set to begin in three weeks,
Phillips testified last month. "In a
highly charged situation like this, I just
wanted to keep things calm until we
could have the meeting."
Phillips met with Murray, Jackson and
Ortega at Jackson's home later that
day. While Jackson lawyers argue that
meeting was intended to pressure
Murray to make sure Jackson was
ready for rehearsals, AEG lawyers
contend Murray assured producers
nothing was wrong.
Phillips testified that he remembered
little about the conversation at the
meeting and Murray has invoked his
constitutional protection against self-
incrimination to avoid testifying in the
trial. This makes Ortega's testimony
crucial for both sides.
Hand over evidence or face jail
A related drama could unfold Monday
in another courtroom as a judge in
Ohio decides if he'll carry out a threat
to throw the widow and daughter of a
former Jackson manager in jail for
refusing to hand over a laptop
computer subpoenaed by Jackson
lawyers.
Frank DiLeo, who served as Jackson's
manager decades earlier, reappeared
in his life in his last months. He died in
2011. Jackson lawyers want to search
his laptop for evidence to support
their contention that DiLeo was
beholden to the concert promoter
and not to Jackson.
His daughter, Belinda DiLeo, refused a
judge's order last week to disclose
where the computer was, prompting
the contempt of court order. The
judge gave the DiLeo's until Monday
to hand it over or face jail. A hearing
will be held Wednesday to determine
of the women complied with the
order.
Jackson changed managers twice in
the last three months of his life. In
late March 2009, he hired Leonard
Rowe -- one of his father's friends -- to
replace Tohme Tohme, the manager
who initially negotiated the deal with
AEG for his "This Is It" tour.
Jackson lawyers argue that AEG Live
forced Jackson to take DiLeo, who had
worked for him off and on for
decades, as his manager in May 2009
because they did not want to work
with Rowe.
A cache of 5,000 e-mails has already
been recovered and a lawyer in Ohio
is reviewing them to redact non-
relevant and personal information
before handing them over to Jackson
lawyers.