Michael Jackson's Mother Takes Major Misstep During Cross Examination In AEG Case

The mother of Michael Jackson, Katherine Jackson, placed her family's ongoing court case against concert promoter AEG Live in jeopardy when she took to the witness stand for a second time on Monday (22 July). The 83-year-old did not appear as the heart-wrenched mother who was still revelling from losing her child as she did when she first gave evidence on Friday (19 July) - putting her character testimony into great peril for when the jury make their verdict - and made a number of misinformed statements during her examination by the defendant's lawyer, reports CNN.

Kathereine, pictured with Michael's eldest son Prince, seemed to contradict herself in court

Katherine appeared to be argumentative, forgetful and too overcome with emotion to competently recall some of the more incriminating parts of her son's past live. As well as this, Jackson made numerous indications that she flat-out refused to believe some of the facts presented in front of her in terms of her son's addiction to prescription drugs - both in his lifetime and even now, following the inquest into his death that revealed the extent of his prescription drug addiction.

Jackson is currently suing AEG Live along with all three of MJ's children for the wrongful death of her son and their father. By the end of last week it looked as though the Jacksons already had their multi-million dollar settlement wrapped up, however Katherine's second statement made things a little less obvious as to who would win the case once again. When quizzed about his cancelled 1993 'Dangerous' world tour, which ended after the singer's pal Elizabeth Taylor flew into Mexico City to stage an intervention and take him to a rehab clinic, Katherine claimed she had absolutely no knowledge of this ever happening, regardless of her son's public statement and apology in which he admitted why the tour was cancelled.

"I don't like to hear bad news," the Jackson matriarch simply said.

AEG were organising Michael's comeback shows in London

When quizzed on a more recent occasion when her son's drug problem was called into question - the 2002 intervention her family held in his Neverland ranch to curtail his drug problem - she appeared to have no recollection of the seriousness behind the gathering, merely remembering it as a typical family reunion. She told the courtroom that neither she nor any of her other children directly confronted Michael about his drug problem during the gathering, saying "We just saw he was OK and was upset, and ... there was no deep discussion or anything." Directly contradicting previous statements made on Michael's behalf.

She went on to recall the time her son was living in Las Vegas and she was told about his addiction, at which point she directly questioned him about his problems. She went on to say that it seemed as though his drug problem was under control and was a necessity as he continued to suffer from the burns on his scalp attained during a botched Pepsi commercial shoot. She timidly told the courtroom, "I kind of believed him, and I didn't believe him," which again goes against her initial, more assured courtroom statement.

Katherine and her three grandchildren are suing AEG Live, who were promoting and producing Michael's 50 'This Is It' comeback concerts in London prior to his death on June 25, 2009, for negligently hiring Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor who fed Michael's drug problem in his dying days and was found responsible for providing the fatal dose of the anesthetic propofol that killed the singer. AEG are countering the claim, insisting that Michael had hired Murray on his own accord and used advance payments from the concert promoters to pay the doctor. Payments that would have been returned following the completion of his 50-date residency at London's O2 Arena.

The court case is ongoing