David Becker/David Becker/Invision/AP
Michael Jackson's son, Prince, left, and the singer's mother, Katherine, arrive at the world premiere of Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson ONE in Las Vegas. A Los Angeles jury will have to consider how much to award Jackson's three children and mother if they determine concert promoter AEG Live LLC hired the doctor convicted of causing the superstar's June 2009 death.
The five-month spectacle of the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial begins its culmination Tuesday with the start of closing arguments and a move to a new stage five times the size of the courtroom where jurors started in April.
At stake are millions — possibly billions — of dollars that Katherine Jackson and the King of Pop's three kids believe concert promoter AEG Live should pay for its alleged role in placing Dr. Conrad Murray at Michael's bedside the day he died.
Michael's eldest son Prince, 16, previously testified along with the singer’s mom, Katherine, 83, and ex-wife Debbie Rowe. The pop icon's daughter Paris, 15, appeared only in snippets of deposition testimony after a suicide attempt in June.
A big crowd — possibly including Prince — is expected for final arguments, so court personnel moved the proceedings to the much larger courtroom with more than 200 seats.
A judge told the 12 jurors Monday that only nine had to reach agreement on whether AEG hired, retained or supervised Murray though a contract that was written, oral or created by intentional conduct.
AEG has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that it was the "Thriller" singer who personally hired Murray and arranged to pay him with money advanced by AEG.
If the jury ultimately finds AEG hired Murray either alone or in part, it then must decide whether the company should have known Murray presented a risk to Michael, the judge said. And if AEG was negligent in that way, the jury must decide how much blame the company should assume compared to Jackson himself, the judge said.
For example, the jury could find that AEG was 75 percent at fault while Michael was 25 percent responsible for his own fate. In that case, the verdict amount would be reduced by 25 percent.
Jurors could set figures for both economic and personal damages but not punitive damages, the judge said.
Michael overdosed on surgery-strength anesthetic propofol in June 2009 as he prepared for his "This Is It" comeback concerts with AEG.
Murray is now serving four years for recklessly providing the propofol as a sleep aid in a private bedroom without proper monitoring.
"Michael wasn't alone in what happened to him," Katherine's lawyer Kevin Boyle said outside court Monday.
He declined to give an exact figure for damages sought, but a paid expert who testified for Katherine claimed Michael could have earned more than $1 billion more had he survived.
"The children want their father back. This is not going to provide them that, but it can provide them with some closure, financial stability and allow them to try to start repairing their lives and moving on," Boyle said.
AEG lead lawyer Marvin Putnam said his client shouldn't have to pay a penny.
"This has never been anything but a shakedown. They've always just wanted to get monies out of AEG Live, and that's inappropriate," Putnam told the Daily News.
"As we all know, Dr. Conrad Murray was Michael Jackson's longtime doctor for three-plus years, and [Michael] approached AEG and said, 'Hey, I'm taking him on tour with me.' It wasn't a question,'" Putnam said.
He said if Murray had accompanied Michael to London for the concerts, AEG "certainly" would have advanced the funds to cover his services "like everything else on the tour."
"But that never happened," Putnam said. "As we know, one person paid Dr. Murray. The only evidence of any payments to Dr. Conrad Murray are payments by Michael Jackson. There's nothing by AEG Live because they never hired him."
Closing arguments are expected to conclude Thursday, with the case going to jurors after that, the lawyers said.
The high-profile trial got some extra star power when Janet Jackson attended with her mom, but testimony from Diana Ross, Quincy Jones, Spike Lee, Lisa Marie Presley and other big names on Katherine's original witness list never materialized.
ndillon@nydailynews.com
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