'Ugly stuff' to come out in MJ's wrongful death trial, says opposing lawyer

Making his opening statement in what is expected to be an emotional wrongful death trial, Marvin Putnam said AEG officials had no idea the singer was taking the surgical anesthetic that led to his death.

Michael Jackson. Pic/Santa Banta

He said the three-month civil case would bring to light "some ugly stuff" about the pop legend's private behavior. u00a0He said that the "public Michael Jackson was very different from the private Michael Jackson."

"Even his family wasn't sure what was going on at the house. He kept those who might have been able help him at a distance," Putnam said. u00a0He said Jackson had been using the powerful anesthetic propofol for years to help him sleep "and almost no one knew."

According to Putnam, AEG, like everyone else, was an outsider and they had no idea. u00a0It was going on behind locked doors, he said. u00a0Jackson's mother, Katherine, is suing privately held AEG Live for negligence in hiring Dr. Conrad Murray as his personal physician.

Brian Panish, representing Jackson's family, said AEG Live ignored red flags when it hired Murray and should have been aware that the singer had addiction problems years before he agreed to perform the concerts.u00a0