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Doctor: Fleiss had no signs of assault
2007-07-21
A plastic surgeon testified that he didn't see bruises on the face of Tom Sizemore's former girlfriend, former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, days after she claimed he punched her in the jaw at a Beverly Hills hotel. "There was no sign of any trauma, bruising or anything like that?" Fay Arfa, Sizemore's attorney, asked Dr. Michael Cardenas on Friday. "I did not notice anything like that," said Cardenas, who said he had a conversation with Sizemore and Fleiss around 2 a.m. April 13, 2003, about five days after the assault. Sizemore says the attack never happened and is trying to overturn his 2003 misdemeanor corporal injury conviction for the assault at the Four Seasons Hotel. Cardenas said he was called to treat Sizemore for a cut and was introduced to Fleiss. The three had a brief conversation after he was done treating Sizemore, he said. "You saw their interaction together and it seemed like they were getting along?" Arfa asked him. "Yes," Cardenas said. Deputy District Attorney Robert Cha said metabolism or treatment might have reduced Fleiss' swollen face by the time the surgeon saw her. Cha also suggested Fleiss might have used "cover-up items" to conceal the injuries. Sizemore is serving a 16-month prison term for violating probation in a Los Angeles methamphetamine case and faces another six years behind bars if convicted on other drug-related charges. He did not attend the hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court. The actor, whose movie credits include "Black Hawk Down" and "Saving Private Ryan," has had several run-ins with the law in recent years. He was still serving three years probation for his October 2004 guilty plea in Los Angeles to a felony count of methamphetamine possession when he was arrested May 8 outside the Four Points Sheraton in Bakersfield and charged with seven drug-related offenses, including meth possession. Fleiss was convicted in 1995 of running a prostitution ring in which models-turned-prostitutes were flown around the world to meet wealthy actors and clients who paid as much as $10,000 for a single meeting.
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