Ortega, day 2

TRIAL UPDATE: The focus stayed squarely on Kenny Ortega’s warnings to AEG Live’s Randy Phillips and Paul Gongaware about Michael Jackson’s precarious physical and emotional state during the director’s second day of testimony. MJ wasn’t showing up for rehearsals just weeks before his O2 concert series was set to open, and “My feeling was we were not gonna make it and the plan was to make it clear” to the AEG execs Ortega said Tuesday, adding he was worried that “All that we had worked for, Michael and I, this dream, this goal he and I had, this desire, was going to fall away.” Ortega said that after he raised these concerns, it was decided Phillips and Dr. Conrad Murray would be in charge of Jackson’s schedule. “Have you ever seen a situation where a CEO of a promoter and producer and a physician were responsible for an artist’s rehearsal and attendance schedule?” asked Jackson family attorney Brian Panish. “No,” Ortega replied. The jury was shown an email written by tour accountant Tim Woolley on June 23, 2009, two days before Jackson died. It said, “Kenny Ortega has responsibility only for the show content & structure in consultation with MJ. Randy Phillips and Dr. Murray are responsible for MJ‘s rehearsal and attendance schedule.” (7/10a)