Fleiss Trial Begins With Little Fanfare

It was an event that was supposed to be the sexiest trial of the year, exposing the bedroom antics of Tinseltown power mongers and a slew of wanna-bes.

But in a town where celebrity can be instant and its loss can occur in half that time, alleged Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss has clearly lost much of her draw.

Amid subdued fanfare and much security, jury selection began Downtown on Monday in the criminal case against Fleiss, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of pandering and possession of cocaine for sale.

“Heidi who ?” quipped John North, the Channel 7 correspondent covering the real news in town, the double-homicide trial of football hall of famer O.J. Simpson two doors away in the Downtown Criminal Courts Building.

It’s not Simpson. It’s not Michael Jackson. It’s not even Tonya Harding.

“It’s not meritorious of our coverage,” sniffed Kristin Jeannette-Meyers, an anchor for Court TV. “I mean, what is it really? It’s just sleazy.”

Fleiss, 28, faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted. She was arrested more than a year ago after she allegedly provided cocaine and four prostitutes to a Japanese businessman who turned out to be an undercover Beverly Hills police officer.

Touted as the alleged “madam to the stars,” profiled in the New Yorker, the green-eyed brunette was catapulted into the spotlight. Interest only heightened with speculation that Fleiss might eventually open her “black book,” disclosing names of clients who allegedly included entertainment industry executives, producers and jet-set glitterati.

But the story of a football idol accused of killing his wife and her friend eclipsed the tale of the alleged Hollywood madam. To some, Fleiss became less exotic this summer when she--along with her father--was charged with the everyday sins of money laundering and tax evasion.

“Sex and murder are not comparable to sex and income tax evasion--it’s not nearly as dramatic or compelling,” said Melanie Lomax, a civil rights attorney not connected with the case.

Fleiss and her father, Paul Fleiss, 60, a pediatrician, were arrested in August on federal charges of tax evasion and money laundering--hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars made by the daughter’s prostitution ring, prosecutors alleged. In September, Fleiss was arrested and admitted to a drug rehabilitation program after tests indicated that she used stimulants and depressants.

“When she went into drug rehab, it took her down a peg,” said Harlan Braun, a well-known defense attorney who is not involved in Fleiss’ case. “It turns out she’s probably just a dope addict as opposed to a daughter of a prominent pediatrician. Then the pediatrician was indicted along with her, so it sounds like a much less exotic story. Now it turns out she’s a dope addict, daughter of an indicted pediatrician.”

But at Department 105 in Superior Court on Monday, Fleiss’ case was handled with all the trimmings of a quasi-high-profile event.

Access to the courtroom was severely restricted. A court-issued press packet was distributed to a few waiting reporters.

Inside the courtroom of Judge Judith L. Champagne, a bespectacled Fleiss entered clad in a conservative blue suit. As she walked in, one prospective juror was overheard whispering to another, “Yup, that’s her . Check her out.”

In an effort to select a jury for Fleiss’ trial, a 15-page questionnaire was handed out to 65 prospective jurors, and court was adjourned until next week so lawyers could review the responses. (In Simpson’s case, 1,000 prospective jurors were summoned; about a third of them were asked to fill out 79-page questionnaires.)

All in all, it was a quiet day in Department 105.

“Everything went smoothly this morning,” said Fleiss’ attorney Donald Marks, who said the absence of a media circus made the day easier on his client.

Unlike the Simpson case, after the court proceedings attorneys held no news conferences. The biggest excitement was the unexpected appearance of miniskirted Norma Jean Almodovar, a former LAPD civilian traffic controller arrested for pandering 10 years ago.

Almodovar stepped in front of the cameras to explain that she had attended Fleiss’ proceeding to show support.

“It’s consensual sex, it’s nobody’s business,” said Almodovar, author of the book “Cop to Call Girl.” “I’m here to make sure she gets a fair trial. . . . In California, there’s a tremendous prejudice against people in the sex industry.”