AEG to Claim Michael Jackson Responsible for Own Death in $40B Lawsuit

AEG Live will argue that pop star Michael Jackson was responsible for his own death in the $40 billion wrongful death lawsuit filed against the entertainment company by the singer's family, according to a report from CNN.

Jackson's mother, Katherine, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit along with Jackson's children, claims that AEG is responsible for her son's death because they "negligently" hired Dr. Conrad Murray as the artist's personal physician. Murray himself is not named in the suit.

"The basic claim is that there were a lot of red flags with respect to Dr. Murray's care of Michael Jackson and AEG ignored all those flags," Eyewitness News legal analyst Dana Cole to ABC. "Now [AEG] is simply saying, they didn't know what was happening, what was going on between Dr. Murray and Michael Jackson. It was confidential between doctor and patient."

Both of Jackson's children are also individually suing for more than $50 million in general damages and over  $10 billion in special damages, based on the contention that the singer would have continued to make about $500 million a year for the rest of his life, an argument that the corporate entertainment company called "fiction" in court documents.

After Jackson died in 2009, it was discovered that Dr. Murray had given the musician propofol, a powerful anesthetic. Dr. Murray was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced in November 2011 to four years in the Los Angeles County men's jail, according to CBS News.

Before to Jackson's death, AEG was attempting to launch a series of comeback concerts for the performer. Defense lawyer Marvin Putnam claims the company never hired Dr. Murray, and that he had been merely one of many physicians treating Jackson. Putnam said that the King of Pop had been addicted to drugs for many years prior to agreeing with AEG Live to perform the concerts. He added that there had never been a signed contract between Murray and AEG Live while Jackson was alive.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos has already noted that steps taken by AEG Live, such as talks about paying Murray $150,000 a month, could indeed indicate that there was some kind of contract or agreement between the company and the doctor.

"[Murray] was chosen by Michael Jackson," Putnam argued to CNN. "He was brought to Los Angeles by Michael Jackson. He had been Michael Jackson's long-time physician and continued in that capacity and was directed by him and could only be fired at will by him."

Jury selection began Tuesday for the trial.