Man Suing O’Connor Denies Selling Drugs

A two-year war of words resumed Tuesday between Carroll O’Connor and the man convicted of supplying cocaine to the actor’s son, who committed suicide during a drug binge.

This time, in a Los Angeles courtroom, O’Connor tapped his lips with his fingers, literally biting his tongue while Harry Perzigian did all the talking.

O’Connor in the past has called Perzigian, the Brentwood man the actor holds responsible for his son’s death, “a sleazeball” and “a partner in murder.” He challenged Perzigian to sue him.

And so Perzigian did. On Tuesday, the 41-year-old musician was the first witness in his slander case against the popular television star of “All in the Family” and “In the Heat of the Night.”

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Perzigian admitted consuming cocaine with Hugh O’Connor, whom he considered “a good friend.” But he denied ever selling it.

By day’s end, the case took an unusual twist when a judge in Santa Monica issued a $50,000 warrant for Perzigian’s arrest. Prosecutors alleged that he had violated his probation by being arrested for drunk driving.

In the slander case, lawyers indicated that the trial would focus on Hugh O’Connor’s drug addiction and the March 28, 1995 suicide--and Carroll O’Connor’s words in the hours and weeks afterward.

Perzigian’s lawyer, Allan Sigel, contends that his client was maligned during a “tirade and vendetta” by O’Connor.

After Hugh O’Connor’s suicide, Perzigian was arrested and convicted for possessing drugs and furnishing them to O’Connor. Sigel contended that he was convicted partly because of Carroll O’Connor’s popularity.

Superior Court Judge Malcolm H. Mackey has ruled that the burden of proof rests with O’Connor to prove that Perzigian was, in fact, a drug dealer.

O’Connor’s lawyer, Lucy Inman, repeatedly labeled Perzigian a “drug dealer” who deserves nothing from jurors but their contempt. She said O’Connor was merely expressing his opinion and exercising his right to free speech.

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Hugh O’Connor was adopted by Carroll O’Connor and his wife, Nancy, while they were in Rome in 1962. His childhood was happy, but when the boy was 16, he turned to drugs after surviving a bout with cancer. He became an addict, relapsing several times after stints in rehabilitation.

Fighting to keep his son off drugs, O’Connor arranged in 1988 to move him to Georgia to appear with him on “In the Heat of the Night.” But the set was reportedly rife with drugs.

“It was like taking him from Sodom to Gomorrah,” Sigel said.

Inman said Hugh O’Connor was doing well when Perzigian appeared in his life again. A week before his son died, Carroll O’Connor asked Los Angeles police to investigate and arrest Perzigian, even if it meant his son also would be arrested.

Perzigian was arrested the day after Hugh O’Connor’s suicide and served a brief jail sentence after his January 1996 conviction.