Jackson Security Chief Reveals Drug Concerns
The former security boss says the star's children called emergency services when their dad collapsed at Disney World.
The pop star was rehearsing for a comeback tour when he died
Michael Jackson's former
security boss has told a jury that he was once concerned the singer
would overdose on prescription drugs - but not around the time of his
death.
Michael La Perruque said he spoke to two of Jackson's doctors about his
concerns about the singer's medication use, but that he never spoke
directly about it to the star because he did not want him to become
defensive."It was my concern that he may overdose," he said.
Mr La Perruque said he occasionally went into Jackson's hotel room to make sure he was breathing and would often find doctors to treat the pop star when he travelled.
Mr La Perruque said Jackson called him in the middle of the night between 20 and 30 times in the early 2000s and was often mumbling and incoherent.
Half those times Mr La Perruque said he went to the singer's room to check on him, and they would start talking.
"I think he was just lonely," he said.
"He wanted somebody to talk to."
He said the singer's children called emergency services during a trip to Florida in 2001 or 2002 after their father collapsed in a hallway in a hotel suite at Disney World.
He said he found Jackson unconscious, revived him before paramedics arrived and never saw any signs of drugs or alcohol that the singer may have taken.
He told jurors that his testimony on Thursday was only the second time he had told the story.
The first came in a deposition with lawyers for AEG Live LLC, which is being sued by Jackson's mother claiming the company negligently hired the doctor convicted of giving her son a fatal overdose of the anesthetic propofol.
Deborah Chang, an attorney for Jackson's mother, said there was no evidence that his collapse at Disney World was drug-related.
Mr La Perruque retired from his job as a deputy sheriff in 2001 to work as the head of Jackson's security detail and frequently travelled with him until 2004.
He then returned to oversee his security in late 2007.
Mr La Perruque said he did not see any signs that Jackson was impaired during the few months he worked for him again.
He testified he last saw Jackson two weeks before the singer's death and he looked fine, but he noticed that his former boss was skinnier than usual.
Mr La Perruque said Jackson kept members of his family away because he knew they were trying to stage an intervention.
He told jurors that Jackson's younger brother Randy arrived at Neverland Ranch one day in a helicopter to speak with his brother about his medication usage.
Mr La Perruque said he turned him away.
Jackson was rehearsing for a comeback tour when he died in 2009.
