Day 23 of the AEG trial: the company’s first witness takes the stand
In today’s session, questioning of Paul Gongwer was concluded, and then Randy Phillips was called to the stand. He is the CEO of AEG. Phillips studied law at university for two years, but dropped out.
Brian Panish, attorney for Katherine Jackson, began questioning Phillips.
Phillips said that before taking the stand, over the past two weeks he had consulted with his six attorneys about six to eight times to prepare to give testimony—totaling roughly 30 hours. Phillips said he reviewed about thirty of his emails from the period under review with his lawyers, and also read the text of his prior interrogation. He noted that he hadn’t had prior preparation for the interrogation that had been conducted earlier. “My lawyers thought it would be better for me to come to the interrogation without preparation.”
Marvin Pontam, the company’s attorney, said that given the large volume of data, it was impossible for the company to review all of it.
Before asking Phillips questions, Panish asked whether he would like to tell his story.
Phillips responded: “You called me as a witness, and I’m here.”
Panish: “At AEG, who is higher-ranking than you?”Phillips: “At AEG Live, nobody.”Panish: “So you’re the number one person at your company?”Phillips: “Yes.”
Phillips directs his reports to the board of directors, and they deliver those reports to Louie’s team. Phillips said he didn’t know why Louie left the company. Phil Anschutz (the founder and owner of the company) is part of the board.
Panish asked Phillips whether he was familiar with the music industry.
Phillips: “I work in this industry.”
Phillips said he agreed with the claim attributed to him and Marvin Pontam—that this case is baseless and a scam.
Panish: “Did you, under oath, sign a document that claimed that Mrs. Jackson helped her husband, Joe Jackson, extort the company?”Phillips: “Maybe, I don’t remember.”
Phillips: “I wish you wouldn’t keep repeating that this case is baseless and a scam. ‘Scam’ isn’t a respectful word.”Panish: “But you believe this is an extortion case. Right?”Phillips: “Yes.”
Panish: “Did you tell Mr. Ortega that AEG has a history of checking everyone, including Dr. Murray?”Phillips: “I wrote to Kenny Ortega in an email that I think Dr. Murray’s background has been checked. I still think so to some extent.”
Panish: “Did you say that he’s an outstanding doctor?”Phillips: “Because I was told that.”
Panish: “Did you write this email that AEG checks everyone?”Phillips: “Yes.”Panish: “But that statement wasn’t true.”Phillips: “Looking back, 100% no. That’s what I knew at the time.”
Panish referred to AEG’s competitor, Live Nation, and asked: “Are you happy that you’re number two?”Phillips: “I love it. I’d rather be a successful number two.”Panish: “Don’t you want to be number one?”Phillips: “If it means losing money, no.”
Phillips said Anschutz had told him that he was also satisfied being number two.
Panish asked whether it was true that Phillips, in 2007, was trying to meet Michael in order to arrange a tour with him. Phillips said the opposite was true: it was Michael’s team that wanted the meeting.
Since the judge had previously warned him not to argue with witnesses, Panish told Phillips: “Please don’t argue with me. If you do, I’ll argue with you and I’ll get into trouble.” Phillips joked: “That’s motivation for me.” (Laughter from the audience.)
Panish: “Were you aware that Cloney Capital bought part of Norland?”Phillips: “Yes.”Panish: “Is Barack one of the executives at Cloney Capital?”Phillips: “Yes.”
On June 13, 2008—one year before Michael Jackson’s death—Randy Phillips emailed Cloney Capital a summary of their plans for the next four years for MJ:
“I’m warning you that MJ isn’t quick in decision-making and is a complete perfectionist. He needs to be kept under control as much as possible.”
Phillips said he meant controlling Michael’s income and expenses.
Panish: “Norland was his dear home, right, sir?”Phillips: “That’s hard to answer because of things MJ told me.”
When Phillips tried to give a half-smile, Panish asked whether he thought the court process was funny.
Phillips: “No, I think it’s painful.”
Temi Temi, Michael’s business manager, also worked as a business partner at Cloney Capital. Panish asked Phillips whether he thought this created a conflict of interest. Phillips said no.
Phillips will return to the stand tomorrow.
Source: eMJey.com / AP & ABC & CNN