Man Sues Michael Jackson Estate Over Public Funeral Costs

A Los Angeles man who says he’s a tax-paying citizen has filed a multi-million dollar creditor’s claim against the Jackson estate, arguing that the estate -- and not the city of Los Angeles -- should foot the bill for the King of Pop’s extravagant public memorial last year.

Self-described tax-paying citizen Jose Freddie Vallejos says he believes the city shelled out about $3.3 million in police expenses and other resources for Jackson’s July 2009 public funeral at the Staples Center.

Vallejos says these expenses are chargeable to the estate because, he contends, they were a reasonable funeral cost, and the estate “directly benefited from the expenditure.” He also asserts that the expenses were “an illegal gift of public funds in violation of the Constitution of the State of California.”