Brandy won’t be charged in deadly 2006 crash

Brandy won’t be charged
in deadly 2006 crash

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles city attorney’s office said Friday it will not charge Brandy in a deadly December 2006 freeway crash.

Spokesman Nick Velasquez said there is “insufficient evidence” for a jury to find the 28-year-old actress-singer guilty of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt.

The decision runs counter to a recommendation from the California Highway Patrol that Brandy, whose real name is Brandy Norwood, be charged in the Dec. 30, 2006, crash.

Brandy was driving on a Los Angeles freeway when traffic slowed and her Land Rover smashed into the back of a Honda. That car was involved in several other collisions. The driver, 38-year-old Awatef Aboudihaj, died in the accident.

Judge orders mediation
in sale of two Oscars

LOS ANGELES — Lawyers will decide who gets two Academy Awards. A judge has ordered mediation in a lawsuit over two Oscars presented to Mary Pickford and a third given to Charles “Buddy” Rogers, who was married to the actress. If the mediation ordered Friday fails, a trial will be held next year.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is suing heirs of Rogers’ second wife, Beverly, to prevent the public sale of the statuettes. The Academy claims that under its bylaws, it gets first chance to buy the Oscars for $10 each.

Pickford won the Academy Award for best actress in 1930 for “Coquette.” She received an honorary Oscar in 1976. Rogers won a humanitarian award Oscar in 1986.

Yung Joc says he has
‘utmost respect for law’

CLEVELAND — Rapper Yung Joc, accused of taking a loaded gun to an airport, issued a statement Thursday saying he respects the law and is looking forward to resolving the charge against him.

Joc, whose real name is Jasiel Robinson, was arrested Sunday at a Cleveland Hopkins International Airport security checkpoint. Police said they found a semiautomatic handgun and ammunition in his carry-on bag. Robinson, 27, told police he didn’t know the gun was there.

He said in the statement that the incident is unfortunate. “I have the utmost respect for the laws of this country and would never deliberately commit an act that would jeopardize my freedom, my family, or my career,” he said.

Robinson, who faces a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon, didn’t enter a plea at a Wednesday arraigment. He was freed on $50,000 bond and was due back in court Jan. 25. The charge carries a possible sentence of up to 18 months.

Yung Joc was one of the biggest hip-hop stars in 2006, selling a million copies of his debut album “New Joc City,” behind the Grammy-nominated song “It’s Goin’ Down.” His follow-up album “Hustlenomic$” was released in August.

‘Sweeney’ scene was
strangest, says Depp

NEW YORK — In a career that has included drunk pirates and a scissor-handed recluse, Johnny Depp says the strangest scene he’s ever filmed is a simple flashback in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

The movie is the sixth collaboration for Depp and director Tim Burton — and one of their riskiest. It’s based on Stephen Sondheim’s bloody Broadway musical about a murderous barber, and Depp had scant singing experience.

But it wasn’t the singing that scared Depp — or any of his character’s numerous gory murders. It was a flashback to young Sweeney’s happy life before he was sent to prison by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman). It’s arguably the most normal scene in the movie, and both Depp and Burton could hardly stomach it.

t“I think that was the weirdest thing I ever had to shoot,” Depp told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “[Burton] literally was sobbing. He left the set of his own movie.”

Burton said the extreme melodrama of the scene was difficult to watch. “That’s when I knew [Depp] was a great actor, because that was terrible,” the 49-year-old director said.

“That was so bad.”

Today’s birthdays

Actor Clarence Swensen (“The Wizard of Oz”) is 90. Actress Mary Tyler Moore is 70. Actor Jon Voight is 69. Singer Marianne Faithfull is 61. Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. is 61. Actor Ted Danson is 60. Singer-actress Yvonne Elliman is 56. Actress Patricia Clarkson is 48. Comedian Paula Poundstone is 48. Rock singer Dexter Holland (The Offspring) is 42. Movie director Andy Wachowski is 40. Rock singer-musician Glen Phillips is 37. Actor Jude Law is 35. Actor Mekhi Phifer is 33. Actor Shawn Hatosy is 32. Country singer Jessica Andrews is 24.