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Sizemore's Surgeon: Fleiss Looked Fine
by Josh Grossberg
E! Online
July 23rd, 2007
Tom Sizemore wanted another go-round with ex-girlfriend Heidi Fleiss over his misdemeanor domestic violence conviction and he got it.
Pulling out the big guns, the Saving Private Ryan soldier called his plastic surgeon to the stand on Friday to testify that the erstwhile Hollywood Madam had no signs of facial injuries when he met with the couple shortly after Fleiss accused Sizemore of punching her in the jaw at a Beverly Hills hotel.
At a hearing in Los Angeles, Dr. Michael Cardenas stated that he had a conversation with Sizemore and Fleiss about 2 a.m. on April 13, 2003.
"There was no sign of any trauma, bruising or anything like that?" asked Sizemore's attorney, Fay Arfa.
"I did not notice anything like that," the plastic surgeon told the court.
Cardenas testified that he first encountered Fleiss after being called to the Four Seasons hotel to treat Sizemore for a laceration to his face, and during their brief interaction, regarded the twosome to be a "normal, happy couple."
"You saw their interaction together and it seemed like they were getting along?" asked Arfa.
"Yes," responded the physician.
Under cross-examination by Deputy Los Angeles District Attorney Robert Cha, Cardenas acknowledged that metabolism or even makeup may have been responsible for Fleiss' "normal" appearance.
The doctor affirmed that the swelling on Fleiss' face might have dramatically gone down by the time he met her. Cha also posited—and Cardenes didn't dispute—that Fleiss may have been wearing "cover-up items" such as concealer to hide any bruises.
Sizemore, currently serving a 16-month prison sentence for violating his probation in a separate 2004 drug possession case, was not in court. But his defense team has been working overtime trying to get the trouble-prone thespian's 2003 conviction for allegedly thumping Fleiss tossed on the grounds that she fabricated the allegations.
Sizemore was found guilty of counts of domestic violence, criminal threats, vandalism and making obscene and harassing phone, but was acquitted of 10 other counts. The Natural Born Killers cop was slapped with a 17-month prison term and four months in a rehab facility; however, the judge allowed him to remain free pending his appeal.
The actor's lawyers have managed to introduce new witnesses, including Cardenas, who alleged they saw no signs of facial trauma with Fleiss in the days after the purported smackdown.
Team Sizemore also accused Fleiss of faking a photo supposedly snapped by her friend, Tara Dabrizzi, on the day of the beating. The actor's lawyers suggest that Dabrizzi didn't exist and was essentially created by Fleiss to support her allegations. To support that contention, Sizemore's attorneys claim that Fleiss initially testified under oath that she didn't know who took the picture and point to the fact that Dabrizzi never took the stand and was said to have left the country.
In any event, the Fleiss fiasco is the least of Sizemore's worries.
The Hollywood tough guy is still stinging after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Cynthia Rayvis rejected his tearful mea culpa and sent him to prison.
Rayvis restored a 16-month jail sentence from a 2004 methamphetamine case that had been suspended in favor of a supervised release.
The judge made the ruling after Sizemore was arrested and charged in May with five felony counts of transporting and possessing methamphetamine and possessing three controlled substances without proper prescriptions. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts, which carry a maximum sentence of six years in state prison.
