O’Connor Uses Trial for Anti-Drug Message

Actor Carroll O’Connor returned to the witness stand Tuesday, telling jurors in Los Angeles Superior Court that he welcomed the slander lawsuit pursued by his dead son’s drug supplier.

O’Connor said the highly publicized trial gives him an opportunity to use his fame to get his anti-drug message to millions. Musician Harry Perzigian sued O’Connor, charging slander and infliction of emotional distress, after the grieving father called him a “sleazeball” and a “partner in murder” on national television.

O’Connor even challenged Perzigian to sue, but never expected he would, he said.

“I didn’t think he’d be fool enough to expose himself once again,” O’Connor said, confronting Perzigian, 41. The actor holds Perzigian responsible for the suicide of O’Connor’s cocaine-addicted son, Hugh, who shot himself during a binge in March 1995.

“Pusher,” was the term O’Connor repeatedly invoked to describe Perzigian, who was convicted of possessing cocaine and supplying it to Hugh O’Connor.

Earlier, O’Connor recalled details of his 32-year-old son’s last day of life and struggled to maintain his composure. During a break, he wiped tear-filled eyes with a handkerchief held in a shaking hand.

“The first thought that went through my head was, ‘At last it’s happened.’ I think we all wonder if our kids will grow up,” he said, his voice barely audible, as he described his fears for Hugh during the son’s 16-year battle with addiction. “I broke down and cried a lot. His mother cried a lot.”

Later, he said, his grief found an outlet in exposing Perzigian and in encouraging others to confront drug dealers. As a result, O’Connor said, eight states--including California--now have laws allowing people to file wrongful death lawsuits against drug dealers.

The case is expected to go to the jury today.