Some conclusions on AEG following the first two days of pretrial hearings in Murray´s case

January 8, 2011

After learning how negligent and non-professional in performing CPR Dr. Conrad Murray was the first question I asked was:

WHO HIRED DR. MURRAY?

Now we know that the company which hired Dr. Conrad Murray was AEG. There are numerous reports to this effect. Even the highly biased article found here by Lynton Guest “The Trials Of Michael Jackson: Epilogue” who is all too willing to place all the blame on Sony for everything ever done to Michael Jackson states it clearly that Murray’s employer was AEG:

“Conrad Murray was engaged, not by Michael Jackson, but the company AEG Live, which was the organisation promoting the fifty comeback gigs at London’s O2 – the This Is It tour”.

Lynton Guest also provides information on the terms of the agreement:

“Dr. Conrad Murray … had been hired by AEG to look after the singer’s medical needs at something approaching $100,000 a month”.

Since the amount to be paid to him monthly was enormous but his skills as a doctor were dubious I asked myself the next question:

WHAT ARE DR. CONRAD MURRAY QUALIFICATIONS?

Lynton Guest says about it:

“Dr. Conrad Murray graduated from the Meharry Medical College School of Medicine in the top fifty percent of his class in 1989. Meharry is not a top notch medical school but perhaps one in the second rank of such institutions in the USA.

His specialties are internal medicine, cardiology and cardiovascular disease. He landed a fellowship at the University of Arizona in 1995 and was appointed to the Foundation for Cardiovasular Medicine in San Diego the following year. Given the knowledge of the heart and its processes he must have obtained through specialising in these areas, it is even more incredible that he administered Propofol to Michael Jackson.

In the USA, medics are not licensed nationally as they are in most countries. There, doctors acquire their licenses from a particular state where they carry out their practice. In Dr. Murray’s case, he was licensed to practice in Texas, Nevada and California.”

So Dr. Condrad Murray was in the top fifty percent of his medical class which means he was closer to No.50 than to No.40 (otherwise they would have mentioned the top 40 percent). And his school is in the second rank of medical institutions in the US.

Being rated in the middle of a class of a 2nd rate medical school is a doubtful recommendation for a doctor, I would say…

The article from the Boston Globe dated June 30, 2009 is more specific about Murray’s credentials as a doctor. It says that Murray’s certification on internal medicine expired in December (which could be only Dec. 2008) and that he was never certified in cardiovascular disease:

It has now been alleged that the doctor – who first met Michael in 2006 but became his personal physician just last month – is no longer certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).

The ABMS, which oversees 24 Member Boards, says Dr. Murray was certified in internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine, but that certification lapsed when he didn’t maintain it, and expired in December [2008]. In addition, he has not been certified by the ABIM in cardiovascular disease.”

After reading this I am no longer surprised that Dr. Murray didn’t know how to perform CPR on a patient…

HOW LONG DID DR. MURRAY WORK FOR MICHAEL JACKSON?

The above Boston Globe article said:

“It has now been alleged that the doctor – who first met Michael in 2006 but became his personal physician just last month.

“..Meanwhile, the cardiologist has made a claim to concert promoters AEG Live – who arranged Michael’s 50-date ‘This Is It’ London residency – for $300,000 in unpaid fees.”

Source

So Dr. Conrad Murray did indeed “meet” Michael in 2006 but was hired for him as a personal physician only in May 2009.

However the very next paragraph refutes this statement – if the doctor’s salary was around $100,000 per month, the sum claimed by him from AEG shows that the period of service should have been much longer – three or at least two months of work for Michael Jackson.

Several other sources confirm that Dr. Murray worked for MJ at least for two months – or probably three months judging by the sum claimed - which will place the start of his employment as the end of March 2009 earliest and the end of April 2009 latest.

Before taking up his new employment the doctor left his position of a General Practitioner (not a cardiologist). The 2 or 3 months controversy in the length of his employment may be due to the fact that the last month of Michael’s “treatment” is not included into payment, knowing the result it has brought about - however the services rendered while Michael was still alive were to be paid for on a regular basis and this is what Murray wanted to sue AEG for in November 2009:

Michael Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray preparing to sue AEG
November 17, 2009 |

Michael Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray is reportedly preparing to sue promoters AEG for $300,000 (£180,000) he says he is owed – for two months of unpaid services.

Miranda Sevcik, publicist for Ed Chernoff, his lawyer, said that AEG had been “dragging its feet” over the payments, hinting that a lawsuit was on the way. “Dr Murray needs the money and he’s entitled to the money based on the contract he signed with AEG,” she said, reports TMZ.

Murray claims to have signed a deal with the promoters entitling him to the money after giving up his GP practice.
Source

WHY WASN’T DR. MURRAY PAID?

The Boston Globe article is one among the many other sources saying that AEG refused to pay Dr. Conrad Murray. I would agree that payment for the last month of Murray’s services which proved his negligence and lack of professionalism is out of the question, but the initial period was to have been paid by all means for the following reasons – firstly, no one could clearly predict such an end and secondly, if the doctor is not paid he cannot be expected to render his services on a proper level.

AEG found the following excuse for never paying Dr.Murray:

“…according to Randy Phillips, CEO and president of AEG Live, the contract to pay Dr. Murray had not been signed by the singer before his death and so is not valid.”

This is a very interesting point.

Michael was not the kind of man who would be willing to enjoy anyone’s services if they are not paid for, let alone a doctor’s services his life depended on.

Sometimes people had to wait for their pay from Jackson because of his financial problems, but over here the medical services were to be paid by AEG anyway, so the problem of non-payment to Murray could not have had anything to do with Michael. There is absolutely no reason why Michael wouldn’t have signed the contract employing Murray it if he was sure of his doctor.

And he must have been sure of him as Randy Phillips said that Conrad Murray had been Michael’s personal physician for more than three years before that and this is why they employed him:

“Phillips said he had tried to dissuade Jackson from hiring Murray as his personal doctor because of the costs involved, but that the strong-willed singer insisted on having Murray on staff throughout the rehearsals and the run of English shows, saying he had been his personal physician for more than three years.

“Michael told me, ‘You don’t understand. My body is the machine that fuels this business and I need personal care and I want a doctor 24/7 like President Obama would have and this is my doctor,’ ” Phillips explained.”
Source

The information about “three years of being a personal physician” needs to be checked and rechecked as the same Boston Globe says Murray was hired only when the rehearsals started, but if we assume Randy Phillips’ words to be true, it will mean that Michael had no reason to refuse to sign the contract with Murray (or delay signing it by 2 months) as he was supposed to know the doctor very well and should have been interested in keeping him on the job.

So if we are to believe Randy Phillips’s words it must have been AEG who prevented Michael Jackson from putting his signature under Murray’s contract. They either didn’t inform Michael of the need to do it (saying, for example, that there was no clause in the contract stipulating Michael’s consent to a doctor) or delayed its signing at some other pretext.

Why did they do that? Most probably because they were using the payment tool as a method to manipulate the doctor and coerce him into taking decisions which he wouldn’t have taken if he were totally free in his decision-making.

WHO WANTS TO HAVE A NEEDY DOCTOR FOR MICHAEL JACKSON?

The Boston Globe article which extensively quotes Randy Phillips is dated July 1, 2009. It means that a few days after Michael’s death Randy Phillips of AEG explained to the press that it was Michael Jackson who was fully responsible for hiring Murray thus trying to shift the blame for Michael’s death on to him alone.

He said that Murray’s employment was wholly Michael’s decision thus implying that Michael had a special interest in Dr. Murray – evidently “because no other doctor would have agreed to give him propofol”.

But if Michael was so terribly interested in this particular doctor why didn’t he immediately put his signature under the contract employing Murray? He should have done his best to make sure that the doctor is paid for his services as he would have been afraid that “the only doctor available to him would go away”.

The fact that Michael Jackson did not put his signature under AEG’s contract with Murray clearly shows that he didn’t have anything to do with employing Murray. At the very worst he could have been unaware that his signature was required for payment to the doctor, but even in this case it was AEG who didn’t tell him that (and I am not ready to believe they just forgot to inform him).

There is another important fact confirming that Michael had nothing to do with Murray’s employment – Dr. Murray wanted to sue AEG for non-payment, but never made any claims against Jackson’s estate.

Miranda Sevcik, publicist for Dr. Murray’s lawyer, Edward Chernoff, said Murray was not going to sue Jackson’s estate:

Miranda Sevcik, publicist for Dr. Murray’s lawyer, Ed Chernoff claims AEG has been “dragging its feet,” even though the Dr. has requested payment for 2 months of services. Sevcik says Dr. Murray has not been paid a penny for his services, in spite of the fact that the doctor claims to have signed a binding deal with AEG before giving up his medical practice.

Sevcik says Dr. Murray will not file a creditor’s claim against Jackson’s estate. She says, “Dr. Murray needs the money and he’s entitled to the money based on the contract he signed with AEG.”
Source

If Murray didn’t have claims against Jackson or his lawyers it means he knew he was employed by AEG alone with Michael never being an intermediary between them.

But if it was AEG who hired him why on earth would they employ a needy and unqualified doctor like Conrad Murray? Couldn’t they have found for Michael Jackson a really professional doctor with a sound financial standing and for the attractive salary of $100,000 per month too?

It seems that the whole idea of a doctor for Michael Jackson was a needy and therefore obedient man like Conrad Murray. It was a necessity to find someone wholly dependent on AEG in the decision making, a doctor who could be instructed, guided in his actions and even exerted pressure on.

If a doctor is financially independent he is not easily manipulated by others – his patient’s interests are prior to anything his employers will ask of him.

However if he doesn’t have his own means the interests of his employer will come first – as was most probably the case with Dr. Murray.

The fact that Dr. Murray was not certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) any longer – as it expired in December 2008, - and he had never been certified in cardiovascular disease, but these factors didn’t prevent AEG from hiring him as a “cardiologist” makes their decision to employ such a doctor for Michael Jackson practically criminal.

Dr. Murray’s full dependence on someone else and his actions clearly going against Michael Jackson’s interests is manifested by Kenny Ortega’s testimony which is top important for us.

This is what Kenny Ortega said under oath:

The first witness to testify in Tuesday’s preliminary hearing for Michael Jackson’s physician described a run-in with Dr. Conrad Murray six days before the pop star’s death on June 25, 2009.

Renowned choreographer Kenny Ortega was the first to take the stand and said the singer showed up at a rehearsal at Staples Center seeming “lost” and too weak to perform.

“It was scary. I didn’t know what was wrong, but I knew there was something going on,” Ortega recalled.

The next day, he said, he was summoned to a meeting at Jackson’s mansion with the singer, his manager, the concert promoter and Murray.

He said the doctor insisted Jackson was emotionally and physically strong enough to perform and scolded Ortega for sending Jackson home — something he said he hadn’t done.

“Dr. Murray told me that this was not my responsibility and asked me to not act like a doctor or psychologist … and leave Michael’s health to him,” he said.
Source
So Kenny Ortega, a non-medical person (!) sent Michael home when he saw him too weak to perform and Murray, his doctor (!), insisted that he was fit for the job, though his bad condition was seen with a naked eye even to a layman?

Murray should have known that he was giving criminal orders, and the fact that he still made them means that he was pushed into making that decision. And the pressure could come only from his employers arranging the show.

It was them – and nobody else – who should have been terribly interested in having a doctor who is unable to take decisions on his own and is fully dependent on them alone.

ANYTHING for money, AEG?

Comments:

January 11, 2011 7:39 pm

If Michael was to lose his catalog in case he couldn’t perform it was a direct motive for murder. The catalog made them interested in Michael not being able to make it to the end.

Achieving the goal was easy – the only thing necessary was to drive the performer to complete exhaustion, anxiety and stress. In order to do that it was enough to make rigorous demands regarding rehearsals, insist on too many hours of training, harass him over his performance, say it was not good enough, arrange more shows than he ever agreed to, demand that a 50 year old man perform every other day instead of once or twice a week, etc. – in short do something which for the most part was none of their business – and thus make the performer resort to anti-anxiety treatment.

The next step is to find a needy doctor who would do anything they demand of him, never ask for his qualifications, make an oral agreement with him, promise him exorbitant pay and equipment for his patient, force this doctor on the performer, let the doctor work day and night without pay and any written traces of their cooperation, see the performer’s condition getting worse and worse as a result of their pressure and doctor’s “treament” – and never change the schedule though they could.

When the patient dies the only thing that remains to be done is to say that they have nothing to do with the doctor, they never knew he gave any anesthesia to his patient and wash their hands saying: ”What equipment? We never knew of any equipment! We didn’t even know he was giving him propofol!” They never signed a contract with the doctor, never paid him, see him for the first time and the payment to him was to be made by the performer anyway, not them! (it is what they say, not me)

And why the doctor worked for them for two months they have no idea. It took them that long to make a draft contract with the doctor and then they tried to force the performer to accept him and sign the papers but he – naughty boy – wouldn’t agree…

Now that the performer is dead all the money paid for the rent, staff, etc. will be taken away from him to cover their “damages”, though even the amount they got from the tickets sold should have been quite enough. In addition to that they will make a lucrative contract out of the rehearsal footage which is usually never made but in this particular case was conveniently made and with several cameras too.

The next step is not to allow Michael’s estate (heavily burdened with a many million debt) to earn a single penny through any projects devised in cooperation with Sony or any other company willing to raise some money to repay the debt, and when – or if – no money is raised, the catalog which the performer was dreaming of leaving for his children will fall into the hands of the designers of the project as a ripe fruit.

It won’t hurt to make arrangements with a couple of professionals to heavily campaign against those who are willing to make Michael’s produce and help the estate to repay the debt. The idea is to fool the performer’s fans so that they lose track of the real criminals. This way the estate has fewer chances to manage. If they do, it will be a big disappointment for the designers of the project…

In case the performer had had the cheek to survive through their beastly schedule and make fabulous shows they wouldn’t have lost anything either as they would have made a great deal of money at the expense of completely ruining the performer’s health. However the first variant was preferable, and they knew it was coming – and that is why were not in a hurry to make the necessary equipment for the show or even constumes for all the participants though they were on the verge of dress rehearsals in a couple of days.

Now that the job is done, the very last thing to do is to cynically say that they cannot do anything for the grieving mother as “claims for wrongful death due to medical negligence are subject to a one-year statute of limitations” and Katherine Jackson failed to make her claim within one year, “so her claim would be dismissed.”

So let Dr. Murray be the only one to answer. And what a fool he will be if doesn’t tell the truth about them.

P.S. The above comment was inspired by the AEG Notice of Demurrer to Katherine Jackson’s complaint which is here:

Katherine’s suit against AEG.

Here is the cover story which amazed me by the fact that the suit is coinciding with the conclusions made in this very post – later I hope to update it with more information:

“Michael Jackson’s mother sued a concert promoter, alleging the company failed to provide life-saving equipment and oversee a doctor who was hired to look out for the pop star’s well-being as he prepared for what were intended to be his comeback concerts.

Katherine Jackson’s lawsuit was filed against AEG Live in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

The suit contends AEG and its agents told Michael Jackson the company would provide the equipment and hire Dr. Conrad Murray to care for him so he could perform at the concerts in London.

“AEG’s representations to Jackson were false because in reality AEG was merely doing whatever it took to make sure that Michael Jackson could make it to rehearsals and shows and AEG did not provide a doctor who was truly looking out for Jackson’s well-being and did not provide equipment,” the lawsuit stated.

AEG Live President and CEO Randy Phillips said after Jackson’s June 2009 death that Murray was enlisted to act as Jackson’s personal physician and was to be paid $150,000 a month by AEG Live as the singer prepared for the concerts. (I thought it was 100,000 – interesting that the figure varies)

Jackson, however, died before signing the agreement. As a result, Phillips said it was not binding. (BS!)

The suit also said AEG Live was responsible for the actions of Murray in the care of Jackson. Murray, however, was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

“At the time of his death, Michael Jackson was under the immediate care of a doctor SELECTED by, HIRED by, and CONTROLLED by AEG; indeed AEG DEMANDED and required that Michael Jackson be treated by this particular doctor to ensure that Michael Jackson would attend all rehearsals and shows on the tour,” the complaint stated.

(AEG demanded that MJ be treated by this particular doctor!)

Katherine Jackson, who is the guardian of the singer’s three children, also sued on their behalf. Her lawsuit claimed Jackson’s eldest son, Prince, suffered great trauma and severe emotional distress because he witnessed his father’s final moments.

The lawsuit alleged that Jackson’s agreement with AEG put him under immense pressure to complete the London concerts.

The suit claims AEG would have taken over Jackson’s share in a lucrative music catalog that includes songs by The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Jackson and the Jackson 5, which was one of the singer’s best assets after years of accumulating debt.

Here is Raven Woods’ take on the AEG lawsuit brought by Katherine Jackson:

Part 1: http://allforloveblog.com/?p=4392

Part 2: http://allforloveblog.com/?p=4505

Thank you Helena for your generosity sharing your investigation!




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