The Region - News from Oct. 8, 1985

Free-lance writer Christopher Van Ness, who has refused to surrender a tape recording of an interview he made with Cathy Evelyn Smith, the Canadian woman accused of murder in the 1982 drug death of comedian John Belushi, was spared a jail sentence, at least temporarily. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert R. Devich scheduled a hearing Wednesday to consider Van Ness’s request to permanently set aside a contempt citation--and a 10-day jail sentence--imposed by Los Angeles Municipal Judge James F. Nelson. On Sept. 26, Nelson rejected Van Ness’s claim that his 1982 interview with Smith is protected by a so-called reporters’ shield law. Prosecutors want the taped interview to buttress their case against Smith, who, according to prosecutors, admitted to Van Ness that she injected Belushi with heroin and cocaine before his death.