AEG Trial Session 38: Michael Jackson’s Son Testifies in His Father’s Murder Trial (Summary)

Prince, Michael Jackson’s sixteen-year-old son, was the first witness in the AEG trial yesterday. He talked about almost everything. Soon you will be able to read the full text of his testimony on this page, but for now we are sharing a brief summary of the most important points from yesterday’s proceedings.

Prince wore a black suit and a dark gray tie, and he had his long brown hair tucked behind his ear. He appeared in the courtroom very calm and dignified. During testimony that at times was emotionally very difficult for him, he held himself together and prevented his tears from spilling over. Prince spoke in a soft, gentle voice and, as always, was very polite.

He said that his father was excited to carry out the This Is It tour, but he was unhappy about the workload pressure placed on him. Michael wanted more time to rehearse. He had intense phone conversations with AEG company executives, and after hanging up, he would start crying. He once said that they were “killing him.” Michael was afraid of the company’s executives.

One of the most important parts of the testimony from this teenage boy came when he said that once, when his father had gone to rehearse and wasn’t at home, he witnessed a confrontation between Randy Phillips and Dr. Murray. He said that Phillips had grabbed Murray’s elbow. Prince added that, in his view, Phillips’ behavior seemed violent.

Outside the courtroom, Valerie Wass, Murray’s attorney, and Marvin Putnam, the company’s attorney, said that the meeting Prince described had never taken place. Putnam said they would call Prince back to the stand again. Putnam said: “When he comes back to us, we will show that it wasn’t as he described. He was a twelve-year-old boy who was forced to face such great suffering.”

The bitterest and most emotional testimony from Prince was his recollection of the day his father died. He said that on that day, Conrad Murray, Michael’s personal doctor, was performing artificial respiration on his father—who was hanging slightly off the bed. When Murray realized his patient was about to die, instead of calling an ambulance, he called his twelve-year-old son into the room to witness the most horrifying scene imaginable to any of us. Prince remembered that his father’s pupils had rolled back into his head (his eyes were white). When Prince recalled that Dr. Murray told him in the hospital that his father had died, his eyes turned red, but he overcame his feelings.

He said he had never witnessed the treatments Murray carried out on his father.

“I was twelve years old. As far as I know, his job was to make sure my dad was okay.”

He said none of the house employees were allowed to enter the upper floor where Michael’s room was located. Murray was the only person who had the right to enter. When Michael was in the room with Murray for treatment, the door was closed.

Marvin Putnam, the company’s attorney, showed the jury a video of Prince’s deposition, in which he said that once, while playing missile launcher games with his sister and brother, he had wanted to enter his father’s room but realized the door was locked. He said his father was meditating with Dr. DiHend via Skype.

He also said that his father gave him and his sister Paris several times a stack of one-hundred-dollar bills to give to Murray. This teenager said his father had told him that Murray wouldn’t accept the money from his hands and asked the kids to hand it to him. Prince said Murray also didn’t accept all the money the children gave him; he would take part of it. Prince said his father, by paying this money, was trying to help Murray until his salary was paid by the AEG company.

Katherine Jackson, Prince’s grandmother and guardian, was seated in the front row facing Prince. Katherine held a tissue and kept adjusting her glasses over her eyes to wipe away her tears.

At the beginning of Prince’s testimony, family photos and videos of Michael and his children were shown in court for fifteen minutes. Prince said he had helped his lawyers choose them. Prince spoke about life and growing up in Neverland, and showed the jury videos of the zoo, an amusement park, and other places on that ranch. After Michael was acquitted of sexual charges in 2005, they left Neverland and went to the Middle East, Ireland, and Las Vegas.

Referring to the police raid on Neverland and the false charges brought against Michael, Prince said they had destroyed Neverland for his father.

He said his father was always busy with work, and he rejected claims by some company executives who had called Michael lazy.

The kids didn’t know their father was a global superstar.

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

Prince and Paris watched a film of one of their father’s performances, and when they saw fans being carried out of the stadium on stretchers in a frenzy, they felt that their father was a famous person.

Prince was the first witness from the Jackson family. T.J. and his brother Taj are expected to take the stand the next day.

Prince spoke softly. The first image shown to the jury was a photo of Prince and Paris taken next to their grandmother on their first day of school.

Prince talked about school and his education. A few days ago, he finished his third year at Buckley School. He took a summer term to study American history. He is a member of the school’s robotics team and participates in volunteer work. He is an honor student and has recently been admitted to the United States National Honor Society.

One of the photos shown in court was of little Prince playing the piano alongside his father.

Brian Panish, one of the Jacksons’ lawyers, asked whether he had any interest in pursuing a music career.

Prince: “I can never play an instrument, and for sure I can’t sing.”

The jury laughed. Prince explained that he wants to pursue filmmaking or business in college.

During this session, Prince also spoke about his fifteen-year-old sister, Paris. He said that after their father’s death, his sister has been going through difficult days. He said they help Paris. He said he had seen his sister’s deposition video, in which she described Grace as an unpleasant person. In explaining this, he limited himself to saying that “people have different ways of dealing with issues,” and added that Paris and Grace have recently spent time together and were happy. Read Paris’ statements about Grace here.

After the testimony ended, Prince hugged his lawyer, Deborah Chung, and then walked over to Marvin Putnam and shook his hand. It seemed that Chung had told Putnam some things about Prince’s grades.

Source: eMJey.com / AP