From Attorney Caruso, Some Rather Sobering Testimony in Judge’s Defense

During his colorful career, L.A. attorney Paul Caruso was never at a loss for words.

Caruso, who died the other day at the age of 81, once was a defense witness for a judge who was charged with drunk driving. Police officers had said the judge was rude when he was pulled over.

Caruso testified that the judge was “a brusque, obnoxious man when he’s sober--and when he drinks.”

The judge later pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of reckless driving.

Caruso (cont.): No newspaper obituary could possibly reprise all the Caruso stories. The Times noted the other day that he won an acquittal for actor Audie Murphy, who was accused of firing a gun at a dog trainer. The latter had allegedly made a pass at Murphy’s girlfriend. Caruso blew up a copy of the actor’s Medal of Honor certificate during the trial and won an acquittal after jurors conferred for less than a day.

But there’s a postscript to that story. Caruso later said the jurors had reached a verdict in the morning but had voted to delay announcing it long enough to have a free lunch courtesy of the county.

Unreal estate: Today’s curiosities (see accompanying) include:

* An open house that’s really open (photo by Lisalee Wells of Long Beach).

* A not-so-sizable boast about a Wrigley-era residence in Long Beach (spotted by T. Cirillo of Seal Beach).

* And, finally, an Orange County house with a feature that, in the words of Harold Grant of Lake Forest, seems “the perfect place for those teenagers in the family.”

Stupid driver tricks (the early years): “Harold Walsh figures now he’s seen everything,” wrote Times “Cityside” columnist Gene Sherman 45 years ago. “Driving to work on Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale, he got trapped behind a young lady poking along the middle lane in her car--eating her breakfast! Alternately munching a doughnut and sipping coffee.”

Added Sherman: “And for all Mr. Walsh knows, she may have had an egg boiling in the glove compartment.”

Returning to 2001: John Schiermeier of Burbank writes: “A sign on a truck I saw today read, ‘Hey Stupid Your Too Close!’ My reaction is, ‘Hey Stupid You Can’t Spell!’ ”

Another car culture bulletin: The city of Paramount received a set of building plans from a resident for a new front “porsche.”

miscelLAny: In a Vanity Fair article on the L.A. art scene of the ‘60s, actor Dennis Hopper recalls that French movie director Roger Vadim stayed close to ex-wives Jane Fonda, Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve long after he had divorced them. “I asked him, ‘Roger, how did you stay friendly with all your wives?’ ” Hopper recalled, “and he said, ‘Well, I always gave them everything they asked for. If they asked for a divorce, I gave it to them.’ ”

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.