4/10/2007

in

Torn seeks nonjuried trial for DWI case.

Jess Boettger

Rip Torn has chosen to take his DWI case to a nonjury trial. The 76-year-old actor was slapped with the charge after a December 4th car crash. The accident occurred on Hardscrabble Road in North Salem, NY (about 60 miles from New York City). Torn has said that he lost control of the vehicle he was driving and hit a tractor. A Connecticut resident, the actor rejected an on-scene sobriety test. He was summarily arrested and charged with a DWI, according to New York police. The nonjury trial is set for June.  
  
Torn has done some juggling with his legal representation, tossing out the son of "Judge Judy," Adam Levy, and bringing in new legal counsel. Levy has issued a statement saying that he is awaiting the confirmation that Torn has sought new representation.  
  
Levy has gotten the actor off the hook in the past. In 2004, Torn was acquitted by a jury of prior drunken driving charges. It was decided that prosecutors did not successfully prove that the star was drinking before the accident. Videotape shot by police showed the actor refusing a sobriety test out of anger, not drunkenness.Rip Torn has been nominated for a 1983 Oscar and received an Emmy in 1996 (for playing a hard-drinking producer).