AEG 裁判 25 日目: ランディ・フィリップスの電子メールの確認

今日の法廷でも、ジャクソン家の者は誰も出廷しなかった。

キャサリン・ジャクソンさんの弁護士ブライアン・パニッシュは、今日の証人の前でランディ・フィリップスに、今日に向けてどのように準備したか説明するよう求めた。この日の証言の準備に約２時間１５分を費やしたという。

パニッシュ氏が自身の通話内容の見直しを求めていたという前日のフィリップス氏の主張に言及し、パニッシュ氏は実際に誰の通話内容を見直したのか説明するよう求めた。フィリップスはそれが警察であることを認めた。

この日、パニッシュはフィリップスが 2009 年 6 月に交わした電子メールに焦点を当てた。2009 年 6 月 18 日の電子メールで、ギャング・ワーはマレー博士のすべての連絡先番号をフィリップスに提供した。

パニッシュ：「普段、一緒に仕事をしているアーティストの主治医の連絡先をすべて保存しているんですか？」

フィリップス：「絶対に違います！ほとんどのアーティストにとって、私たちは彼らの医師とは何の関係もありません。」

ツアー・マネージャーのバグビーからフィリップスに宛てた「最前線の問題」というタイトルのメールは、「モグラ塚から山を作りたくないけど…」で始まっており、バグビーはその夜、MJがステージに上がらずにリハーサル・セッションを去ったと書いている。

フィリップス: 「このメールは 6 月 19 日に寝る前に読んだと思います。」

Panish referred to Phillips’s testimony during his initial statement, when he said he had read this email in the morning after waking up.

Phillips: “I don’t want to argue with you either. I don’t think it’s fair to the jury. Since the interrogation, my memory has improved because I had access to documents and I tried to recall the events.”

Panish: “You’re not the type to make a mountain out of a molehill?”

Phillips joked: “Sometimes. But right now, I’ve sworn an oath.”

Panish: “What has changed from the day of your testimony until today?”

Phillips: “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Only that I’m very prepared.”

Panish: “Did Mr. Jackson have any problems on June 20?”

Phillips: “Absolutely.”

Panish asked whether he remembers his reaction after receiving this email.

Phillips: “Yes, yes. I was worried.”

Panish showed the jury Phillips’s testimony video. In the video, he says he doesn’t remember his reaction after receiving that email.

Bagby had quoted Michael in part of the email: “You don’t want to kill me, do you?”

Phillips said he thought Michael was joking. After Panish reminded him that he wasn’t personally present at the location, Phillips backed off from his position.

After 19 minutes had passed from Bagby’s email being received in the evening of June 19, Phillips forwarded the email to his boss, Tim Lewick, and wrote: “We’re facing a major problem.” Only four minutes later, Lewick replied and requested that a meeting be held with him, Michael, Phillips, and Kenny Ortega. Phillips said he sent the email to Ortega and asked him to arrange the meeting. Ortega agreed the next morning. That meeting wasn’t held that day; instead, a meeting was held in the afternoon of June 20.

In an email to Phillips, Bagby wrote that Michael needed a psychologist and a fitness coach, and he pointed out that Michael’s condition had been deteriorating in front of his eyes for eight weeks.

Phillips: “That’s what he wrote. I don’t know exactly what he meant.”

Panish asked Phillips what he had read as Bagby’s 360-degree turn.

Phillips: “He was saying that Michael couldn’t do his 360-degree turn. I knew what he was talking about, but until the meeting was held, I didn’t know what the issue really was.”

Panish: “Did this email show that someone’s physical condition had gotten worse, right?”

Phillips: “It shows that something went wrong.”

Phillips then forwarded the email to John Branca, Joel Katz, and Tim Lewick, adding: “Unfortunately, time is being wasted.”

In another email, Bagby wrote to Phillips that Michael was trembling and couldn’t eat; Kenny had to cut his food into pieces for him. In his reply, Phillips wrote that he didn’t know what Michael’s problem was—was it psychological or chemical? In court, Panish reviewed five different explanations Phillips had given about this email. In his explanations, Phillips said he didn’t know what “chemical” meant in that email.

Ortega then emailed Phillips saying he believes Michael needs to be emotionally balanced. Today, Phillips said he agreed with Kenny’s statement. In his testimony, he said he didn’t remember this email.

He added that despite Bagby and Ortega’s requests, he didn’t hire any psychologist.

Phillips also rejected the claim that he was responsible for マイケル・ジャクソン’s death:

“I wasn’t responsible for his medication needs. We’re the concert promoters. That’s our job. I wasn’t responsible for Michael’s health. He was an adult. He had a personal doctor.”

Panish asked whether he had ever told Ortega that investigating and interfering in Michael’s medical treatment and doctor was none of his business. Phillips said no.

In response to this email, John Branca, Michael’s lawyer, wrote that he knows a trusted therapist and spiritual counselor who could help him. The email didn’t name the person. Randy Phillips had previously said he remembered the person’s name, but today he said he was mistaken. When Phillips and Panish argued and the judge intervened, some jurors shook their heads in disappointment.

Panish: “Did Mr. Branca tell you who that psychologist was?”

Phillips: “No.”

Panish: “Did you ask him for the name?”

Phillips: “No.”

Panish: “Did you do anything at all?”

Phillips: “Only the June 20 meeting.”

On June 20, Michael Kane, マイケル・ジャクソン’s business manager, emailed Phillips asking him to receive some of Michael’s salary in advance so it could be used to pay Michael’s bills. Phillips wrote that this payment was impossible because “he would probably be violating the contract.” Kane replied: “It couldn’t get any worse.” Phillips responded again: “It could get worse—Kenny Ortega could resign.” At that time, AEG had already loaned Michael more than $30 million to cover the production costs of This Is It, settle a financial case in Bahrain, and rent a house in Holmby Hills.

Panish: “Do you think MJ would violate the contract by not showing up for rehearsals?”

Phillips: “Yes. In none of our contracts is the artist’s attendance at rehearsals listed as a condition. If MJ’s absence from rehearsals caused the full show not to be completed and the show not to go on in London, then he would have violated the contract. I was worried that if he didn’t show up for rehearsals, Kenny wouldn’t be able to pull the show together. I thought Michael was responsible for this (showing up for rehearsals).”

Phillips, however, denied the claim that Michael was threatened that if he didn’t attend rehearsals, the tour would be canceled. He said there was a lot of financial risk for the tour and the company, but he was also worried about Michael’s career.

Since the tour’s production costs were tied to Michael, Panish asked whether canceling the concerts would cause losses for the company. Phillips said their reputation would be harmed.

Panish asked about an email Ortega sent to Phillips saying Michael immediately needed a therapist and a nutrition specialist. Phillips first said Kenny wrote that Michael needed a physiotherapist. He then changed his mind and said Kenny meant a therapist as in a physiotherapist or a psychologist. In the end, he agreed that Kenny had requested a psychologist. But Phillips said Kenny’s request wasn’t acted upon.

Kenny wrote that Michael needed to be emotionally balanced, so he needed a psychologist. Phillips had opposed the request: “I don’t know who you could hire, and how that person could help him in such a short time.”

Meanwhile, John Branca had written in his email that he had someone reliable for the job.

Phillips and Panish’s back-and-forth continued throughout today’s session. At one point, Panish made a mistake while presenting one of the documents, and Phillips immediately corrected him: “Look, we’re all making mistakes.”

Panish: “I haven’t made fifty mistakes.”

Phillips: “I don’t know. I haven’t been in all the meetings.”

At the end of today’s time, Panish asked that Frank Delio’s voicemail—Michael’s business manager—presented in court be played for the jury. In that voicemail, Delio requested that a meeting be held and that Michael undergo a blood test. The judge temporarily prevented the voicemail from being played because it was something heard from others and not a direct statement. Phillips said his meeting with Dr. Murray happened at Frank Delio’s request.

Source: eMJey.com / AP & ABC & LA Times & CNN