LOS ANGELES — A choreographer who worked with Michael Jackson on his ill-fated concert tour told a judge Tuesday he clashed with Jackson’s doctor and others over the superstar’s health six days before he died.
Kenny Ortega, the last person to work with Jackson, testified that he was summoned to Jackson’s home a day after letting the superstar skip rehearsal because he seemed sick.
Dr. Conrad Murray and others suggested Jackson should not have been sent home, because he was physically and emotionally fine, Ortega testified, adding he was told not to try to be Jackson’s doctor or psychiatrist.
The testimony came during a preliminary hearing to determine whether Murray, the singer’s personal physician, will be tried on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.
Authorities contend Murray gave Jackson a lethal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol and other sedatives in the bedroom of the singer’s rented mansion before he died June 25, 2009.
Deputy District Attorney David Walgren said in his opening statement that Jackson was already dead when Murray summoned help and tried to conceal his administering of propofol to the pop star, ordering a bodyguard to collect items before paramedics were called.
Later in the hearing, Ortega testified that Jackson had gone home early from rehearsals June 19.
“He didn’t look well at all,” Ortega testified. “Michael was chilled and soft-spoken. . . . He wasn’t in the kind of condition to be at rehearsal.”
Ortega also said Jackson appeared lost.
The next morning, Ortega said, he was called to Jackson’s home, where he was confronted by Jackson, Murray, Jackson manager Frank DiLeo and Randy Phillips, head of AEG, the company producing Jackson’s “This Is It” comeback tour.
“It quickly became clear that the meeting was about me,” Ortega said. “Dr. Murray was upset that I had sent Michael home the night before and didn’t allow him to rehearse.”
Another witness, Faheem Muhammad, one of Jackson’s bodyguards, testified that two of the pop star’s children, Prince, then 12, and Paris, who was 11, watched as Murray frantically attempted to revive him in the bedroom on the day he died.
