“I am an employee but I am a fan first. I would sneak in to see things.” (Michael Amir Williams, MJ’s Personal Assistant)Called to the stand by the prosecution this morning, the 28th of September 2011, were four individuals - Paul Gongaware, Kathy Jorrie, Michael Amir Williams and Faheem Muhammad. Following is a synopsis of the questioning that were conducted inside the courtroom.
PAUL GONGAWARE
Mr. Gongaware is an executive from AEG Live, the company that was promoting Michael Jackson’s “This Is It Tour.” He served the dual capacity of promoter and manager.
The prosecution painted a picture of a company that exercised adequate care for the well-being of Michael Jackson. Assistant Deputy Prosecutor Deborah Brazil showed that they scheduled an average calendar of approximately 9 shows per month.
Mr. Gongoware was asked about his role in negotiating the employment of Conrad Murray, MD. There were two conversations regarding employment. The first was a call initiated by Mr. Gongaware inquiring about how much it would cost MJ to hire him. Dr. Murray said his services will cost MJ $5 Million because he had to close his practice that included offices in California, Nevada, Texas and Hawaii. Mr. Gongaware answered that it was not at all possible, using the phrase “no way” he terminated the negotiations.
In learning this, MJ said that he needed a physician to take care of the “machine”, referring to his body. He later instructed Mr. Gongaware to call Dr. Murray and re-open employment negotiations. In the conversation, he told Dr. Murray that “he was authorized to make him an offer and it comes directly from the artist.” The offer was $150,000 per month to which Dr. Murray said, “I’ll take it.”
On cross-examination, the defense attorney, Edward Chernoff tried to cast doubt on the character of Mr.Gongaware by pointing to another case against him and his company, AEG Live. He asked Mr. Gongaware if he was here with his attorney. Objection, called out the prosecution. It was sustained by the judge. Are you being sued? Objection. You work for AEG Live? Yes. Is Katherine Jackson, suing AEG Live? Do you know why they were being sued for? Objection, called out the prosecution. It was a great moment of lawyering, making the jury think a little harder about Mr. Gongaware.
KATHY JORRIE
Ms. Jorrie is an attorney and a partner at the firm Luce Forward who drafted the “Contract for Services”, specifically an “Independent Contract” between the parties that included Conrad Murray MD, his company GCA, AEG Live and Michael Jackson. She was examined on the stand by Deputy District Attorney Deborah Brazil.
Ms. Jorrie testified that she had two telephonic conversations with Dr. Murray - on June 18 and on June 23, 2009. The questions raised tried to establish MJ’s level of health. She explained that the contract specified a number of medical equipment including a CPR machine and others. She was curious enough to ask, why all that medical equipment was needed? Dr. Murray said that MJ was going to have a series of concerts in London and wanted to make sure that he brought his own equipment. Given MJ’s age, “he wanted to make sure that he had a CPR machine” and that “he wouldn’t take a chance.”
The conversation also touched on the list of documentation required to execute a “cancellation insurance” that was being put in place to protect the parties in case there is a cancellation of any concert events . The documents being requested included a 5-year medical history of MJ. This is when she told the court that Dr. Murray has been MJ’s doctor for only 3 years. Overall, Dr. Murray spoke of MJ’s health in glowing terms.
The defense cross-examination, under J. Michael Flanagan tried to raise the question of a pre-existing condition that may have gone undetected and only exacerbated by the demands of touring. For instance, he asked two questions which where both objected to. He asked, Did Mr. Jackson tell you that he loses 10% of his weight when he performs? And that clothing changes during the concert required that his clothes got smaller and smaller. The objections were sustained and Mr. Jorrie didn’t have to answer.
Along the same line of questioning Flanagan asked if there was anything unusual about performers bringing their own physicians on tour. There was also a question about why Dr. Murray wanted to modify the contract that initially specified a nurse to an assistant. She said that the doctor wanted the flexibility of hiring another physician to attend to MJ in the event he is not able to.
MICHAEL AMIR WILLIAMS
Mr. Williams is MJ’s Personal Assistant. He was a graduate of USC and was originally hired on as the video librarian until he was promoted to his current position. He oversaw the staff, the housekeepers and the security detail. He was examined by Deputy District Attorney David Walgren
Mr. Williams accompanied MJ to the last rehearsal at the Staples Center on the 24th of June. He provided the court with one of the most poignant lines of the trial. When asked if he ever saw MJ perform, he said “I am an employee but I am a fan first. I would sneak in to see things.” He testified that they returned home at around midnight the night before MJ died.
Defense’s Chernoff started slow but worked at carefully impeaching Mr. Williams’ character. Mr. Williams’ testimony was not particularly destructive to the defense. It did not provide any testimony that pointed to Dr. Murray as the ultimate cause of the death. There was no smoking gun. This will be sorted out during the expert witness phase when medical professionals and chemists who can speak to the effects of all the drugs that MJ was thought to have been taking for months, particularly those that were allegedly prescribed by Dr. Arnold Klein and others.
Mr. Williams told the court about a conversation that he characterized as odd. They were already at the hospital and may have known that MJ had died. He was approached by Dr. Murray who said that MJ had a jar of cream in his room that he probably wouldn’t want the world to see. He said that the doctor needed to return to the house.
All the things that were happening caused him to have a conversation with Faheem Muhammad, the Chief of Security, as he searched for a way to evade a potentially charged moment with Dr, Murray who he expected will demand that he take him home. Mr, Chernoff asked him, “The cream. It was so important to you that you concocted a lied with Mr. Muhammad to tell the Dr. that the police had taken your keys.” To which he responded, “Yes”. The follow-up question asked why it took him two months to tell the police about the cream.
By making up a lie, the whole testimony and everything else he said may now be questionable. Expect the defense to return to this moment during closing arguments if more damaging information attributed to Williams is introduced at the trial.
More names where introduced in this portion of the trial. We begin to learn of other individuals who may or may not have supplied MJ medication including a Dr. David Adams, a Tome Tome (to be confirmed), a Nurse Sherry Lynne Lee, A Jason Fifer in addition to a Dr. Arnold Klein and Dr. Conrad Murray. This lays out the theory of a cocktail of medication, outside of the ones given by Dr. Murray, that may have caused the bad reaction.
FAHEEM MUHAMMAD
Mr. Muhammad is the Chief of Security for the Jackson Family. He is personally responsible for transporting MJ and his entourage to and from different locations. He sends out an advance party and plans a travel route, including creating decoys and diversions to confuse the paparazzi and fans that may attempt to follow MJ.
The prosecution painted a picture of a competent security man who was doing a competent job. He was asked how the last rehearsal went and he said that MJ “looked good” and used the words “high energy” to describe the performance.
He was not at the property when Dr. Murray discovered that MJ was unconscious. He testified to have been on the way to the bank with his wife when he received the phone call from Mr. Williams who instructed him to return home and to go upstairs to see what just occurred. Upon arriving at the property, he testified that it was unusual for them to go upstairs so he asked Mr. Williams his permission by phone.
When he arrived MJ was on the floor, his eyes and mouth were open and he appeared dead. He assisted Dr. Murray in administering CPR until the paramedics arrived.
The cross-examination focused on making sure the jurors did not think that Dr. Murray was trying to hide anything. Up until this point the testimony about the cream were based solely on statements of both Mr. Williams and Mr. Muhammad. Chernoff asked how he may have known that Dr. Murray left the hospital to cast doubt on the possibility that he returned to the property. Through questions, he was able to bring up the fact that Dr. Murray rode with the ambulance and did not have his car with him. He also showed several images and clips showing Dr. Murray inside the confines of the hospital.
The prosecution started showing the court images of medical equipment that were inside MJ’s room - oxygen bottles and an I.V. Stand. Questioning also included the trips that MJ made to Dr. Kleins office, even repeating a conversation between Mr. Muhammad and MJ. The frequency of the visits were such that MJ even asked Mr. Muhammad, “You must think I’m crazy?” for going to Dr. Klein’s office so frequently. To which he replied, “No, Sir. I don’t think you are crazy.” He told the court that MJ told him he had some sort of skin disease.
There were questions about the integrity of the surveillance videos around the property. Defense asked him about the set up and where the cameras were located. “All your comings and goings are recorded?” “Yes”, Muhammad replied. “On the 27th, the police asked you to take out he surveillance tape … you helped an LAPD Technician. Did you see the amount of tape that was downloaded?” No, he said.
