Hollywood Awaits Sizemore Verdict

Actor Tom Sizemore's attorney denounced former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss as a liar, extortionist and convicted felon who wrongly brought domestic abuse allegations against her former fiance.

"She exists as a pseudo-celebrity who's famous for being famous. She has something to gain here," defense attorney Michael Fitzgerald told jurors during his closing argument.

A prosecutor responded that Sizemore bullied and abused Fleiss because he figured he could get away with it.

"Anything you can do to hurt a person, to break her down, was done by the defendant," Deputy City Attorney Robert Cha said during his closing argument.

The conflicting accounts came after six days of trial. The judge put the case in the hands of the jury Wednesday.

Sizemore, whose work includes "Black Hawk Down" and "Saving Private Ryan," faces charges including vandalism, threatening to inflict injury to a person or property, corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition, and making harassing phone calls. He faces up to 13 years in prison if convicted.

Cha implored jurors to ignore the actor's fame and convict him.

"It's simply astonishing when you appreciate the cruelty and abuse by Tom Sizemore over two years inflicted on Heidi Fleiss," he said. "... He beat her, he cheated on her."

Fitzgerald said there was no credible evidence that Fleiss was injured by Sizemore and if there were injuries, he suggested, she could have gotten them from anyone, including her friend, boxer Mike Tyson.

No evidence of a violent relationship with Tyson was presented in the trial.

Fitzgerald argued that Sizemore was kind to Fleiss, "giving her the opportunity to be out in public and be treated as a woman worth loving rather than a convicted felon."

Fleiss served 21 months in prison in the 1990s after being convicted of money laundering, tax evasion and attempted pandering.