Hearing from April 25th
We have handwritten notes which have been typed up by WendyLovesMJ and one other anonymous person, BIG THANK YOU TO BOTH
#JacksonVAEG Update: Thursday present in court were attorneys for Lloyds of London, Debbie Rowe, MJ Estate Executors, AEGLive, and Jacksons.
The hearing was in regards to Jacksons request for Debbie Rowes depositions which. AEG and MJEstate did not want to give the to Jacksons,citing “Medical Records” AGAIN!! But after seeing all other attorneys agreeing to the request they agreed too. The depositions are under the protective order. Jacksons attorneys will be given those.
Wednesdays and Thursdays hearing were mostly about 11 or 12 motions by AEGLive to exclude Jacksons expert witnesses, Mr Panish for Jacksons told the judge, this is unheard of, i have never seen this type of filing before. Some are listed below..
The day was spent with AEGLive’s attorneys “reciting” many paragraphs from the numerous depositions for Jackson family!
ALL WERE DENIED, AND A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME!!
AEGLive representing firm had at least 8+ attorneys and assistance in court, AEGLIVE ARE GOING TO BE GETTING A HEFTY legal bill by this firm of attorneys, its such a shame Putnams firm has wasted so many hours and filing, THOUSANDS of dollars on these ridiculous “Motion in limines” ESPECIALLY when this misinformed attorney would not “Stipulate Michael Jackson is dead.”
There was also a hearing for which firm should be used to display digital evidence to the jury (Tv screens etc, to play video evidence)
Judge granted AEGlive to use their firm, AEGLive wanted judge to order Jacksons attorneys to pay half the bill, which Jackson attorneys refused, Judge said she can not order Jackson’s attorneys to any such order… AEGLive attorneys, or should i say AEGLive will be paying for the cost.
During the motion in limines, AEG attorneys wanted a lot of evidence and information from the judge up front, JUDGE REPLIED “SO YOU WANT A PER-TRIAL, THAT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN”
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Lifting Protective Order on Debbie Rowe’s deposition, Redacting of Medical Records, and Motion in Limines of Witness Testimony
Judge Yvette Palalzuelos
Attorneys for Katherine Jackson, AEG, the Jackson Estate, Debbie Rowe and Lloyd’s of London were in court today to discuss the sealing or lifting of Debbie Rowe’s deposition taken by Lloyd’s of London.
Attorney’s for all parties except AEG’s attorney agreed to keeping Ms. Rowe’s deposition private, but to allow Jackson’s attorney to see the deposition.
AEG argued against giving Katherine Jackson’s attorney access to the deposition, issuing a motion to quash Jackson attorney’s subpoena for the deposition. AEG argued to keep Rowe’s deposition under protective order and to withhold/deny Jackson attorney to view it, arguing the deposition included medical records which the Estate went to Appeals court to seal.
Jackson’s attorney, Panish argued that the deposition is under a protective order with this court and any filing with the appeals court to seal is a totally separate issue. Panish then argued that AEG is ultimately trying to get the courtroom sealed, first talking about medical “records“, then medical “information” and then medical “testimony”, continually trying to seal more information from the public.
Panish argued that AEG and the Estate were allowed to sit in on Debbie Rowe’s deposition being taken by Lloyd’s of London, while Katherine Jackson was NEVER notified or allowed to do so. Therefore, allowing Jackson’s attorney to see a copy of Rowe’s deposition now is required in this matter, in the interest of fairness. Disclosure. This is what Jackson’s attorney stated to Judge Palalzuelos. AEG attorney, Stebbins continued arguing against giving disclosure to Jackson attorney. Only after another attorney (Shrake) had to be called for permission and all the other parties agreed did AEG finally back down.
Second session of the day:
AEG attorney, Stebbins attempting to have it put on the record that all medical records are authenticated by the Estate and that the Estate attorney, Millet can do anything she wants to them other than redact them. Jackson attorney, Panish requested to know which specific records were being discussed. He stated that Millet (the Estate) HAD already redacted the medicals records, and that those redactions may not be appropriate, and that Estate’s decision in doing so does NOT effect this trial. Panish wants to see the unredacted medical records in their entirety subject to the Protective Order. He argued that authentication of the records can only be done by the medical professional, not by the Estate and that Jacksons can not be forced to accept redacted, Estate authenticated records.
Stebbins then argued that the Estate is holder of the privilege of deciding what is relevant and necessary to the case. Judge said she will rule on this later.
attempting to redact (remove) extensive portions of witness depositions. Argued continually about it today. Jackson attorney, Panish argued that the documents are already under Protective Order and should therefore be shown to them in there entirety, with no redactions by AEG.
AEG motion to exclude portions of Plaintiff’s expert witness testimony (#60 Gordon Matheson, M.D.). Stebbins arguing to throw out Matheson’s statement that AEG created an unstable environment that threatened Michael Jackson’s health by hiring Murray, who had financial conflicts of interest, and that this was a substantial factor in Michael Jackson‘s death. Jackson’s attorney argued that Murray’s financial conflicts of interest and AEG hiring of him are well within Matheson‘s ability to state based on his expert research.
AEG second exclusion attempt in Matheson’s testimony: Stebbins argues that Dr. Matheson is an expert in the field of sports medicine, but not in the entertainment/concert arena. The judge responds that Matheson’s research shows performers and athletes share common characteristics. Jackson’s attorney argues Defendant’s motion is flawed, that entertainers and athletes share much in common. Further, that Dr. Matheson is not just a sports medicine expert, but has spent his entire career trying to resolve three-party medical conflicts of interest. AEG continues to argue that Dr. Matheson can not testify to AEG creating a substantial factor in Michael Jackson‘s death by hiring Murray. Judge states there may need to be some paring down of Matheson’s testimony, she will rule later.
Another AEG motion in limine: AEG motion to exclude portions of Plaintiff’s expert witness testimony (#25 Arthur Erk, CPA). Tier one, tier two damages expert. AEG attorney Stebbins argues that Mr. Erk’s testimony is speculation and that juries in California can not award damages based on speculation. AEG thinks there is nothing in tier two, and not much in tier one of Mr. Erk’s analysis that should go to the jury. Judge Palalzuelos states she allowed tier two category of damages on future tours because AEG mails show discussions about tours beyond TII tour. Judge states she doesn’t see how it’s speculative when AEG was discussing it.
AEG trying to exclude Mr. Erk’s expert witness testimony of Michael Jackson’s lifetime earnings capacity. AEG claiming Michael didn’t want to make films and that this was not part of AEG negotiations/agreement with Michael for the O2 shows.
Jackson’s attorney argued that Michael Jackson certainly did intend to create films, and that it was his stipulation to have this included in the AEG deal. Further, that internal AEG emails show them saying to each other: Michael really wants to do movies, just keep talking movies with Michael, don’t even talk to him about the tour. AEG then claimed Michael Jackson would never have done more tours and that if he did, he would never have earned the amount Mr. Erk factored he would. Jackson’s attorney said when it benefited AEG to talk movies and tours regarding Michael, they were all about it, but now when it’s financially inconvenient they say Michael couldn’t/wouldn’t have done either. Mr. Erk is an expert in putting together profit margins of tours, argued Jackson‘s attorney, and the jury can decide damage amounts based on Mr. Erk’s projections.
AEG then argued that Mr. Erk’s estimate of a Michael Jackson clothing line that John Branca acknowledged during depositions, was not ever going to happen and could not be factored into Michael’s loss of earning capacity. AEG also objected to Michael Jackson endorsements being calculated into Mr. Erk’s tier one projection. Jackson’s attorney stated that Michael Jackson sold out TII tickets within one hour and that the demand for his return is unprecedented in the history of the world. Michael’s (lost) earning capacity is astronomically apparent.
Next, AEG tried to exclude Mr. Erk’s factoring in of Michael Jackson doing Las Vegas shows after the O2 shows. They cite an alleged proposal by AEG after Michael’s death that the Estate rejected. Jackson’s attorney argues that just because the Estate rejected some sort of proposal for Las Vegas shows does not mean Michael would not have done Las Vegas shows. Further, that Michael Jackson HAS lost the capacity to do Las Vegas his way (alive), while the Estate is currently doing the Cirque shows.
AEG motion to exclude portions of the testimony of Plaintiff’s expert witness (#29 Peter Formuzis, Ph. D.), claiming that he doesn’t have an expertise in calculating earning capacity. Jackson’s attorney tells the judge that Dr. Formuzis is an expert in his field and they want him to testify as to what IS lose of earning capacity and how is it assessed, which he has done thousands of times. And that he will be referencing Mr. Erk’s calculations in doing so.
AEG motion to exclude portions of the testimony of Defendant’s expert witness (#85 Paul H. Earley), where the Plaintiffs attorneys redirected the witness and opened up the scope of the questioning. They argued that the plaintiff’s attorneys included questions regarding calculations of “future loss of earning capacity” when the witness had stated that he didn’t have an expertise in “earning capacity”.
Jackson’s attorneys argued that their expert witness credibility, (#105 Barry J. Nadell) stating opinions on Murray’s visiting strip clubs, was being questioned when a background check revealed that he had some pictures on his facebook of “topless” women. Jackson’s attorney considered they were not even topless. Jackson’s attorneys argued and compared it to the preliminary exclusion of evidence in an e-mail where Randy Phillips and others communicated how crazy Dr. Murray was to be attending strip clubs one week before Michael Jackson’s death. The issue with AEG is, were they negligently retaining, supervising, hiring someone that is going to strip clubs and is not available for the patient that they paid to take care of, that is very relevant to their knowledge of what is happening with this person that they are supposed to be supervising. So AEG had a background check on Jackson’s expert but they didn’t do one on Dr. Murray.
Another argument was regarding another AEG expert witness analysis of the contract between Murray and AEG, rendering it as that of an independent contractor. Jackson’s attorney had the judge confirm that the court had ruled by a matter of law that Dr. Murray was an independent contractor.
Regarding defendant’s life insurance expert witness #84 Arnold A Dickie’s, Jackson’s lawyers agree that he could adjust the “Life Tables” of Michael Jackson, but they argued that he didn’t need to discuss the age that the deceased would have lived to be, because he stated that he didn’t have enough information and that it was based solely on his opinion. So they want that part excluded.
AEG’s next motion in limine: AEG trying to exclude earnings from This Is It being factored into this Wrongful Death case, saying Estate made money from TII for the benefit of the Plaintiffs. Jackson attorney’s states Estate is not a party in this suit, NOT one of the Plaintiffs. Further, that the Plaintiffs have not received any of the money made from TII, only the Estate and AEG, who together cut a deal and profited. AEG trying to talk about Michael’s alleged debts. Jackson’s attorney stating Michael Jackson’s assets outweighed any debts.
Regarding this, AEG argued that the deal AEG Live and the Estate made for the “This Is It movie”, generated proceeds and that they should not be considered inheritance. (inheritance, assets of the Estate and what the Estate generates, as well as other things like Life Insurance, have been excluded). AEG would like the calculations made based on stipulations of the Plaintiff’s expenses, like housing costs, schooling, security, nannies, etc. In other words, to determine what the deceased would be covering for the Plaintiff’s for the amount of time he would have lived. They stated that there are no records available of the deceased’s contributions for the Plaintiff’s while he was alive.
The Jackson’s attorneys rendered as inappropriate to stipulate what plaintiff’s get from the Estate, what the Estate profited from “This Is It” movie, as it does not belong to the Plaintiff’s but to the Estate. They suggested that the AEG attorneys want to get this in, so that the jurors start thinking that these Plaintiff’s have so much money that they don’t need this lawsuit. They say that the assessment that the jury needs to do is the value of the economical loss.
There was also a Jackson’s attorneys motion to exclude defendant’s expert witness #83 Mr. Briggs opinion that Michael Jackson’s loss of income is 0 because he is dead.
Another issue of the day: AEG wants to bring in their own plasma screens for the jury to view their “evidence” upon. Jackson attorney says that will present AEG documents and slides in larger, better image quality then Jackson’s evidence. Judge is allowing it. AEG then tries to get Jackson to pay for half of the expense of the equipment. Panish objects. Judge rules AEG can not require Jackson to pay for half of their equipment.
During the last half hour there were several miscellaneous discussions that both sides were trying to agree on. Most were basically of when certain witnesses would be ready to finish their depositions and about when witnesses would be available for testimony. Lawyers would need to be notified so that they can also let them know when they would be called.