State's first witness: 'Jackson was frail'

Kenny Ortega, director and choreographer of “This Is It,” was the first witness called to the stand Tuesday. Prosecutor David Walgren began his direct examination by asking Ortega about his professional experience and his relationship with Michael Jackson.

Ortega says he met Jackson while working on his “Dangerous” tour. He also worked with Jackson on the “HIStory” tour and other charity events. When asked about his personal relationship with Jackson, Ortega said that they were friends.

As questioning continued, Walgren focused his inquiries on what Ortega witnessed during preparations and rehearsals for the “This Is It” tour. Ortega recalled that Jackson started missing rehearsals around the middle of June 2009.

During one of Jackson's rehearsals on June 19, 2009, Ortega says he witnessed Jackson in a frail state. He offered to give Jackson food, placed a blanket on him and rubbed his feet that day. He says he had never seen the singer in that kind of condition before.

His concern for Jackson prompted Ortega to send the following e-mail to Randy Phillips, CEO of AEG, the company promoting the “This Is It” tour.

Here’s the e-mail exactly as it was written:

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Randy,

I will do whatever I can to be of help with this situation. If you need me to come to the house, just give me a call in the morning. My concern is, now that we’ve brought the Doctor in to the fold and have played the tough love, now or never card, is that the Artist may be unable to rise to the occasion due to real emotional stuff. He appeared quite week and fatigued this evening. He had a terrible case of the chills, was trembling, rambling and obsessing. Everything in me says he should be psychologically evaluated. If we have any chance at all to get him back in the light. It’s going to take a strong Therapist to help him through this as well as immediate physical nurturing. I was told by our Choreographer that during the Artists costume fitting with his Designer tonight they noticed he’s lost more weight. As far as I can tell, there is no one taking responsibility (caring for) for him on a daily basis. Where was his assistant tonight? Tonight I was feeding him, wrapping him in blankets to warm his chills, massaging his feet to calm him and calling his doctor. There were four security guards outside his door, but no one offering him a cup of hot tea. Finally, it’s important for everyone to know, I believe that he really wants this… it would shatter him, break his heart if we pulled the plug. He’s terribly frightened it’s all going to go away. He asked me repeatedly tonight if I was going to leave him. He was practically begging for my confidence. It broke my heart. He was like a lost boy. There still may be a chance he can rise to the occasion if get him the help he needs.

Sincerely,
Kenny
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After discussing the e-mail with Ortega, Walgren asked him about Dr. Murray’s reaction when he raised concerns about Jackson’s health. Ortega said that Dr. Murray sternly told him to stop acting like a doctor, and that Jackson’s health was his responsibility.

Walgren wrapped his direct examination of Ortega by asking about his plans he had made with Jackson for after "This Is It." Ortega said that they were planning to make full-length 3D movies based on Jackson's songs "Thriller" and "Smooth Criminal."

Posted by: In Session staff
Filed under: Conrad Murray • Michael Jackson • Testimony • Witnesses