Catherine Jackson’s Presence at the Court Hearing for AEG’s Case
Four days ago, a hearing was held in the Los Angeles Superior Court to consider a lawsuit filed by Catherine Jackson, Michael’s mother, against AEG. Catherine blames the company for her son’s death. On that day, the grieving mother sat quietly in a corner of the courtroom and listened to the loud back-and-forth between the lawyers for both sides.
The main dispute centered on emails that the Los Angeles Times had revealed some time earlier. Those emails suggested that certain company executives had expressed concerns about Michael’s health before the start of the tour, but had ignored those concerns anyway. The company points the finger at Catherine and Michael’s children, claiming they are responsible for the leak. Their attorney asked the judge to prevent the leaked emails from being presented as evidence in court.
In court, six of Catherine Jackson’s lawyers stood up against Putnam, the company’s only attorney, with force and intensity.
Kevin Boyle, Catherine Jackson’s lawyer, angrily addressed Putnam and said: “He accuses Blacknet, a ten-year-old boy, of delivering these documents to a newspaper! Does that make any sense? Ten-year-old Blanket Jackson obtained a number of documents, made copies of them, and then left his home in Calabasas to hand them over to Harriet Ryan; a journalist.”
Boyle shifted the blame toward the company: “This leak could have been the company’s own doing.”
Harriet Ryan refused to disclose the name of the person who provided her with the emails. Of course, not long ago, Howard Mann, Catherine Jackson’s former business partner, announced that the leak was his work.
Another of Catherine’s lawyers, Perry Sanders, pointed out in court that the Jackson family had no benefit to gain from exposing these emails and therefore had no motive to do such a thing.
Deborah Chang, another of Catherine’s lawyers, said in court: “Even if these emails might present a bad image of the company, it’s important to note that the company’s email text is strongly against Michael. In reality, this information is more against Michael than against the company.”
This lawyer also held the company responsible for the leak and accused them of using this tactic to delay the trial.
Boyle added: “They were completely successful in achieving what they wanted, and I’m sure they’re laughing at us in private.”
Previously, the company had managed to push the trial date back by several months.
Sanders explained: “The evidence in this case is so strong that we were eager for the case to be heard as soon as possible, in September (last month). The only entity that appears to be trying to prevent the case from moving forward is the company.”
Brian Panish, another Jackson lawyer, addressed the judge regarding the allegation that information had been leaked by the company to the Jackson family, saying: “I’ve never come across such a case in my career. They think they can say anything freely without evidence and then laugh at others.”
He noted: “We assure you that we have solid, well-founded evidence that fully supports the claims of the plaintiff (Catherine Jackson).”
Source: eMJey.com / CNN