Los Angeles- Was Tom Sizemore set up?
A Los Angeles judge is giving the city attorney’s office 30 days to come up with a good reason why the trouble-prone thespian’s 2003 conviction for allegedly thumping ex-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss should not be thrown out.
The ruling, handed down last Thursday and made public late Friday, comes amid claims by Team Sizemore that a photo of the bruised and beaten Hollywood Madam–a key piece of evidence in his trial–may have been fabricated.
Sizemore’s defense team contends that photo, allegedly snapped by Fleiss’ friend Tara Dabrizzi on April 13, 2003, was actually faked by Fleiss.
Sizemore was convicted in August 2003 for domestic violence, criminal threats, vandalism and making obscene and harassing phone calls to Fleiss. Sizemore was acquitted of 10 other counts. He was given 21-month sentence–17 months behind bars and four months in a rehab facility–but allowed to remain free pending an appeal.
In a petition filed on June 3, lawyers for the Saving Private Ryan star asked Superior Court Judge Antonio Barreto Jr. to toss the conviction after presenting two witnesses who asserted that Fleiss had no such facial injuries at that time.
The lawyers also argued that Dabrizzi never existed and was concocted by Fleiss, who at one point testified under oath that she didn’t know who took the picture. Dabrizzi was later said to have left country; she never appeared at the trial.
“Sizemore’s vindication is all but a foregone conclusion,” Sizemore attorney Michael Jr. Rovell said in a statement Friday. “It has been a long and arduous road for Mr. Sizemore’s quest for justice–but it is better late than never. As exhilarated as we are about the prospect of his having the conviction overturned, we remain disappointed that neither the city nor the state has commented on our claims that Ms. Fleiss committed perjury.”
Put on the defensive, prosecutors vehemently rejected the allegations.
“They claim she doesn’t exist, but I’ve spoken to [Dabrizzi],” Deputy City Attorney Robert Cha told the Los Angeles Times. “I completely deny that she doesn’t exist.”
Cha said the reason Dabrizzi did not take the stand during the high-profile trial and left the U.S. was because she went to see her ailing mother in Iran. The prosecutor also says that the “photograph speaks for itself.”
Further, Cha said, the judge’s new order was only limited to the misdemeanor domestic violence charge and did not address the other counts against Sizemore.
Last week was an uncharacteristically good one in court for the 44-year-old actor.
In an Oct. 17 hearing in a separate drug case, a judge reinstated the Natural Born Killers cop’s probation on possession of methamphetamines, which was revoked after he failed seven drug tests and was caught using a prosthetic penis to fake the results of another. If Sizemore stays out of trouble for the next 36 months, he’ll stay clear of the slammer; but if he screws up, he could face up to 16 months behind bars.
Meanwhile Vivid Entertainment, the adult video company releasing Sizemore’s new X-rated DVD, Tom Sizemore Sex Scandal, in which Sizemore romps with various women, released a photo seemingly contradicting Paris Hilton’s denials that she was ever acquainted with the actor.
During an interview on the DVD, Sizemore alleges to have hooked up with a 19-year-old Hilton. Last week, however, Hilton released a statement vehemently refuting any fling, accusing Sizemore of using her name to market his video.
The picture, which Vivid says it obtained after purchasing the video, shows a purring Paris posing with Sizemore. No comment from Hilton.
Speaking of videos, Sizemore is currently being followed by a camera crew taping footage for Sizemore’s planned no-holds-barred reality series tentatively titled Super Sizemore, which he’s peddling to networks. No word yet on any takers.