Writer May Face Contempt Charge in Belushi Case

A free-lance writer was threatened with jail Tuesday unless he surrenders in court the tape of his 1982 interview with Cathy Evelyn Smith on the death of actor John Belushi.

Los Angeles Municipal Judge James F. Nelson ruled that Christopher Van Ness cannot withhold the 20-minute tape under the California reporter’s shield law, which protects them from having to reveal confidential material.

Nelson said that unless Van Ness turns over the recording at a hearing Thursday morning, he will be held in contempt of court.

After the brief session in Smith’s preliminary hearing, Van Ness’ attorney, Clinton T. Bailey, told reporters, “At this point in the proceedings, it is not our intention to produce that tape, though that decision could change.”

The tape has been cited as crucial evidence by prosecutors, who are seeking a second-degree murder conviction against Smith.

Smith, 38, a former backup vocalist and companion of rock musicians, was indicted by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury in March, 1983, eight months after the National Enquirer published an article headlined, “I Killed John Belushi.” The article was based on taped interviews in which Smith was quoted as saying she accidentally killed the actor in March, 1982, by injecting him with drugs.

Nelson ruled Monday that only limited portions of the Enquirer’s taped interviews with Smith can be used as evidence against her because the bulk of the two hours of tapes--including a statement in which Smith allegedly admitted administering “the coup de grace “ to Belushi--were conducted “in an atmosphere that can best be described as one of levity.”

Defense attorney Howard L. Weitzman informed Nelson on Tuesday that he will appeal the judge’s ruling in an effort to fully disqualify the Enquirer tapes.

“It seems to me if the tape is 99-plus percent unreliable, it’s wholly unreliable,” he explained afterward.

Prosecutors have called the admissible portions--including statements by Smith that she maintained control of all the needles used to inject Belushi with heroin before his death and that the heroin she injected him with was hers--extremely helpful to their case.

But the Van Ness interview, in which Smith purportedly appears more sober and candid, is “critical to the case,” according to a co-prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Elden S. Fox.

Nelson also ruled Tuesday that Van Ness cannot continue to refuse to answer numerous prosecution questions concerning the Smith interview. The judge said the shield law, which Van Ness repeatedly sought to invoke in court hearings Monday and Tuesday, does not apply to “biographers, novelists, historians or part-time authors.”

Many of the questions are based on an interview transcript that was presented by prosecutors to the grand jury that indicted Smith in March, 1983. Among them are queries on whether Smith ever told Van Ness that she injected Belushi with drugs about 20 times during the last day of his life and whether Smith told Van Ness that she furnished Belushi all the heroin that he used during the last week of his life.

Besides his unprotected status as a free-lancer, Van Ness waived his right to refuse to testify by having previously talked before the grand jury, Nelson said.

The judge, who will decide whether there is enough evidence for Smith to be tried, said Van Ness will be held in contempt of court for continued refusal to answer the questions.