Katherine Jackson to testify at LA trial
AFP
LOS ANGELES- Michael Jackson's mother Katherine will testify Friday against tour promoters AEG Live, whom she accuses of negligently hiring the doctor convicted over the pop star's 2009 death, lawyers said.
The 83-year-old family matriarch is the main plaintiff in the multi-million dollar case against AEG Live, and the second immediate family member to testify after the late star's son Prince gave testimony last month.
She alleges AEG Live negligently hired and retained doctor Conrad Murray to look after Jackson as he rehearsed in Los Angeles for his doomed "This is It" comeback tour, which planned to start with 50 shows in London.
Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 over Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, from an overdose of surgical anesthetic propofol, administered to help the singer cope with chronic insomnia.
Jackson's 16-year-old son Prince testified last month his exhausted father warned that tour promoters AEG Live were going to "kill" him as he rehearsed for the marathon concert tour.
"He just wished he had more time for rehearsals," he told the wrongful death trial, also recounting the harrowing scenes on the day Jackson died, with his younger sister Paris "screaming" as Murray battled in vain to revive him.
Paris Jackson, 15, was originally expected to be among witnesses called at the Jackson v AEG trial, which is expected to last through August.
But she is now unlikely to do so, after being rushed to the hospital after trying to commit suicide at the family home in Calabasas, northwest of Los Angeles, last month.
She had previously been treated for depression and remains under medical supervision.
Her testimony has been heard during the trial, in the form of video of a deposition she gave in March.
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