Judge Grants Mistrial in Susan Cabot Slaying Case

After more than two weeks of testimony, a Van Nuys judge declared a mistrial Monday because of the illness of a controversial defense attorney in the trial of Timothy Scott Roman, who is accused of bludgeoning to death his mother, actress Susan Cabot.

Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp granted the mistrial to Roman after receiving a letter from a doctor for defense attorney Chester Leo Smith, saying the 67-year-old lawyer had heart problems that prevented him from continuing with the case.

Even if Smith, who was hospitalized last week, had not bowed out, relatives of the 25-year-old Roman vowed recently to oust the attorney and seek a mistrial.

Roman faces a possible life term in prison if convicted of the Dec. 10, 1985, slaying of his 59-year-old mother, a leading lady in “B” movies during the 1950s.

The defendant’s adoptive father, Michael Roman, a New Orleans financial manager, said he had been “appalled” at Smith’s defense when he first attended the trial last week.

‘Unfocused and Unprepared’

The elder Roman termed the defense “unfocused and unprepared.”

Roman family members had become increasingly unhappy with Smith in recent weeks as the attorney made several courtroom moves that amazed observers and stunned prosecutors.

In one instance, Smith revealed to jurors while cross-examining a police officer that the younger Roman had confessed to slaying his mother after the two had argued. Deputy Dist. Atty. Bradford E. Stone said he would not have been able to introduce the confession because it was made after Roman asked to speak to an attorney.

Smith also insisted that jurors hear a 90-minute tape-recording of Roman’s questioning by West Valley detectives shortly after the Encino man called police to report that his mother had been slain by a burglar wearing a Ninja mask.

Smith, in an interview, said he wanted jurors to know that detectives “leaned on him pretty hard.”

Shouted Back

However, prosecutors and court observers felt that the tape, in which the suspect shouted back at his interrogators and never seemed close to breaking down, appeared to undercut the expressed defense goal of showing Roman to be mentally fragile.

Roman had pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. If convicted of the murder, his insanity claim would then have been heard before the same jury.

Smith, who acknowledged in an earlier interview that almost all of his practice has been probate and real estate law, was not available for comment, his office said Monday.

He also said in the earlier interview that he had been Cabot’s lawyer and friend for more than three decades and a frequent visitor to the hillside home she shared with her son.

Public Defender Appointed

Schempp on Monday appointed the Public Defender’s Office to represent Roman in the next trial, which Stone predicted would not begin before July or August.

Michael Roman, who expressed satisfaction with the appointment of a public defender, also said in an interview that he could shed no new light on one of Smith’s most dramatic moves in more than two years of pretrial motions.

In April, Smith asked Schempp to remove Roman from the general jail population because he was the son of King Hussein of Jordan, with whom Cabot was for several years romantically linked in the early 1960s.

Received Money

Smith said in court papers that the actress for some time had been receiving $1,500 a month from the Keeper of the King’s Purse in Amman, Jordan, which he said “looks like child support.”

Michael Roman, who married Cabot in 1968 and divorced her in 1981, said Hussein “might be the boy’s father and might not be. I have never known for sure.” Noting his adoptive son’s pale complexion, he said, “He certainly doesn’t look like the king.”

Hussein and Cabot remained friends throughout the 13 years Michael Roman was married to the actress and regularly exchanged greetings at holiday times, the elder Roman said.