ART DEALER COURT HEARING IS RESET
On a defense motion, the preliminary hearing of West Hollywood art dealer Douglas James Chrismas in Los Angeles Municipal court has been continued until June 30. The hearing had been scheduled to begin Tuesday.
Chrismas, 42, faces seven counts of felony grand theft arising out of allegations that he stole more than $1 million in artworks by such leading contemporary artists as Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and others. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the artworks were the property of Vancouver, Canada, real-estate developer C. Fredrick Stimpson.
Chrismas, a Canadian citizen, was arrested and arraigned in February. He pleaded not guilty and was freed on $40,000 bail.
According to Fred Stewart, the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case, the preliminary hearing was delayed because a key witness, Malibu businessman Sidney Goldfarb, is out of the country.
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