Rocker Peter Murphy’s DUI case gets new hearing
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Friday continued a hearing for Bauhaus lead singer Peter Murphy, who is accused of rear-ending a vehicle and fleeing to Los Angeles, where an eyewitness blocked him until police arrived.
His attorney, Robert Wilson, appeared in the Glendale courthouse on behalf of Murphy, 55, for a pretrial hearing, where he explained to Judge Frederick Rotenberg that his client went to Turkey — where he lives — to deal with a family situation.
Rotenberg granted a new hearing for Oct. 10.
Murphy faces three misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, hit-and-run driving and possessing methamphetamine in connection with the March 16 incident in Glendale.
He was allegedly driving a Subaru Forester when he crashed into another car, drove away and onto the Ventura (134) Freeway.
Glendale police said the driver of a pickup truck saw the crash and followed Murphy to the 3400 block of Barham Boulevard in Los Angeles because “he was afraid [Murphy] would kill someone with his driving.”
He pulled in front of Murphy and blocked him until Glendale police arrived. Police said the rocker appeared “very confused” and had difficulty recalling the day and time.
Murphy denied being involved in the collision and reportedly told officers he was jet-lagged.
Officers later found small a plastic bag containing methamphetamine inside the patrol car, where Murphy was being detained, police said. He reportedly denied ownership of the drugs, but officers said they believed he was trying to discard it inside the patrol car.
Murphy — who is best known for being the lead vocalist of the Goth rock group Bauhaus — has been performing in North America and Europe since April 22 for his “Mr. Moonlight” tour and in celebration of the band’s 35th anniversary. He has five upcoming shows in October in California.
--
Follow Veronica Rocha on Google+ and on Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA.
ALSO:
Nordstrom opens at Americana at Brand