People: Suge Knight murder case moves toward trial
A judge ruled Tuesday that Marion “Suge” Knight should stand trial on murder charges even though a key witness – one of the men he’s accused of running over – refused to identify him in court.
Cle “Bone” Sloan told detectives it was Knight who ran over him and another man outside a Compton, California, burger stand in January, killing the other man and seriously injuring Sloan. But when Sloan testified about the incident at Knight’s preliminary hearing in April, he refused to say Knight ran him over.
Knight’s attorney, Thomas Mesereau , said the judge should reject Sloan’s testimony because his changing story showed he isn’t credible.
But Superior Court Judge Stephen A. Marcus said he could not evaluate the credibility of witnesses at a preliminary hearing. The judge noted, “He doesn’t say that it’s not him.”
Deen issues apology over Twitter post
Paula Deen didn’t post a 2011 Halloween costume photo on her Twitter account showing her son Bobby in dark makeup as “I Love Lucy” character Ricky Ricardo, and the social media manager responsible for it was fired, Deen’s spokesman said.
The photo from a holiday episode of one of the celebrity cook’s former Food Network shows, with a tweet mimicking Desi Arnaz’s accented English on the show, was quickly removed Tuesday from Twitter after it drew a flurry of comments about Bobby Deen’s dark-skinned depiction of the character played by Arnaz, Lucille Ball’s TV and real-life husband.
The late Arnaz was a Cuban-born Hispanic.
“Paula immediately had this picture taken down as soon as she saw the post, and apologizes to all who were offended,” according to a statement from spokesman Jaret Keller. He declined to identify the fired social media manager.
The photo, which included Paula Deen, 68, mugging as the red-headed Ball, was from an episode of “Paula’s Best Dishes,” among the several Food Network shows that had starred the Southern cook.
Man of many ‘Simpsons’ voices staying
Harry Shearer and his many voices are returning to “The Simpsons” after a contentious and public contract dispute.
Dueling tweets in May between Shearer and “Simpsons” executive producer Al Jean suggested Shearer might be leaving the Fox cartoon series, where he has voiced numerous key characters since it debuted in 1989.
But Fox announced Tuesday that he will be alongside fellow cast members for the series’ 27th and 28th seasons.
Shearer voices characters including Simpsons neighbor Ned Flanders, billionaire Mr. Burns and his kowtowing aide, Smithers.
The birthday bunch
Singer Steve Lawrence is 80. Children’s performer Raffi is 67. Actress Anjelica Huston is 64. Actor Kevin Bacon is 57. Singer Beck is 45.