Lawyer May Challenge Count in Belushi Death

After reviewing testimony that led a grand jury to indict Cathy Evelyn Smith for the murder of comedian John Belushi, Smith’s lawyer said Monday that he is convinced that the one-time backup vocalist should not have been charged with homicide.

As a result, attorney Howard L. Weitzman told reporters that he may ask for a preliminary hearing for Smith, a move that would scuttle a tentative plea bargain that Smith’s Canadian attorney had struck with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

“I’m not too concerned with having to try the case,” Weitzman said. “If I make a decision to try it, it’s because I think I can win it.”

Outside the courtroom of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert R. Devich, Weitzman refused to discuss details of the sealed grand jury transcript, saying disclosure would be inappropriate. But he said the picture that the secret testimony paints of Smith’s conduct “couldn’t be better.”

At Weitzman’s request, Devich on Monday again excused Smith, 38, from entering pleas to the charges against her, although she was formally arraigned on one count of second-degree murder and 13 counts of furnishing drugs to Belushi in the days immediately before his death.

Smith must decide by Feb. 11--the date set by Devich for taking her pleas--whether she will honor an agreement made through her Canadian lawyer, Brian Greenspan, to plead guilty to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter and to three of the drug offenses.

Weitzman said he does not feel bound by the agreement worked out by Greenspan. “He was not informed of some of the facts that I now am in possession of. The case looks a little different now,” Weitzman said.

If Smith chooses to plead innocent or to demand a preliminary hearing without formally entering a plea, the plea bargain offer will be withdrawn, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael J. Montagna said outside the courtroom.

If she sticks to the agreement, Smith could face up to eight years and eight months in state prison. If she is convicted of involuntary manslaughter at a trial, she could go to prison for 15 years to life.

The 33-year-old Belushi, the heavyset star of the “Saturday Night Live”television show, was found dead in his $200-a-day bungalow at the Chateau Marmont hotel in West Hollywood on March 5, 1982. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office attributed Belushi’s death to acute heroin and cocaine intoxication.

After Smith was quoted in the National Enquirer as saying she injected Belushi with a fatal “speed ball”--a mixture of heroin and cocaine--the Los Angeles County Grand Jury indicted her in March, 1983, in the comedian’s death.

As part of the plea bargain, Smith voluntarily returned to Los Angeles last Tuesday from Toronto, where she had been fighting extradition.

Weitzman received his copy of the 600-page grand jury transcript Friday, after it was accidentally made available to reporters for several hours. By law, grand jury transcripts are to remain sealed for at least 10 days after attorneys for the defendant have received a copy.

“I must tell you, the transcripts of the proceedings before the grand jury paint a different picture” of Belushi’s final days than the one that the public has seen, Weitzman told reporters Monday. “Because of that, I’m taking my time in studying them.”

Despite Weitzman’s assertion, the only part of the transcript made public indicates that Smith injected both Belushi and former “Saturday Night Live” writer Nelson Lyon with heroin and cocaine the night before Belushi died.

Devich on Monday ordered that the grand jury transcript remain sealed at least until Friday, when the judge is scheduled to hear Weitzman’s motion to reduce Smith’s $50,000 bail. Smith remains in custody at Sybil Brand Institute, the county’s jail for women.