Mills McCartney says Paul knows the truth

Mills McCartney says
Paul knows the truth

NEW YORK — Heather Mills McCartney spoke out Thursday against Paul McCartney and the tabloid press for not stopping articles that she says have resulted in death threats against her. “All I can say is when we first split, I said to Paul, ‘I’m going to be crucified. ... You know why we split. You know the truth. They don’t need to know the details, but you need to stand up and say, “I’m responsible for the breakdown of this marriage,”’” Mills McCartney said on NBC’s “Today,” one in a series of interviews with U.S. morning talk shows. “If you say that, I’ll walk away with nothing, and we’ll do a very gentle and quick divorce. And he promised he’d do that. I have evidence of that. And he did nothing,” Mills McCartney said. Mills McCartney broke her silence Wednesday about issues surrounding her divorce case with the former Beatle in interviews on British television. She said that the police told her “serious death threats” had come from an underground movement. Mills McCartney was asked Thursday whom she thought was behind the threats. “Well, I can’t say who I think it is because it will affect our family, but I know a lot of information, and, you know, certain people don’t want certain things coming out because of their image,” she told NBC.

Margera convicted
of sexual assault

GOLDEN, Colo. — The man known as “Don Vito” on MTV’s show “Viva La Bam” was convicted Wednesday of two counts of sexual assault on a child. Vincent Margera, 51, of West Chester, Pa., was accused of groping three girls ages 12 to 14 during an autograph signing event last year at mall skate park in the Denver suburb of Lakewood. After he was convicted, he fell to the floor cursing and yelled, “Just kill me now.” He was acquitted of a third count of sex assault on a child. He faces a sentence of probation to six years in prison on each conviction. If he doesn’t comply with sex offender treatment as part of the sentence, he could potentially spend life in prison, district attorney’s spokeswoman Pam Russell said. After Margera’s courtroom outburst, deputies restrained him and took him to jail, where he was being held without bail until his sentencing hearing, set for Dec. 20. Defense attorney Pamela Mackey had argued that when Margera appeared at the skate park, he took on the persona of the outrageous and profane Don Vito.

Wineshouse will appeal
fine for drug possession

OSLO, Norway — Amy Winehouse will appeal a fine for marijuana possession, claiming Norwegian police made mistakes in the case. Winehouse and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, were arrested in the western city of Bergen on Oct. 18 and held overnight on charges of illegal drug possession. They were released the next morning after paying fines of $715 each on charges of possessing seven grams (about 1⁄4-ounce) of marijuana, and they continued a European tour. Winehouse’s Norwegian attorney, Ole Kvelstad, said the 24-year-old British singer-songwriter was appealing to the Gulating district court because she hadn’t understood that, under Norwegian law, accepting a fine is the same as pleading guilty. “This is an appeal of errors police made in the case,” he said by telephone Thursday. He said she was interrogated without legal representation or an interpreter and had not fully understood the Norwegian-language charges she was signing. Kvelstad said pleading guilty in a drug case could have serious consequences when Winehouse seeks to enter the United States. Bergen Police Attorney Rudolf Christoffersen said Winehouse was questioned by an English-speaking police officer.

Today’s birthdays

Country singer Charlie Walker is 81. Singer Jay Black (Jay and the Americans) is 69. Commentator Patrick J. Buchanan is 69. Actress Stefanie Powers is 65. Author Shere Hite is 65. Rock musician Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) is 63. Country-rock singer-songwriter J.D. Souther is 62. Rock musician Carter Beauford (The Dave Matthews Band) is 50. Singer-songwriter k.d. lang is 46. Rock musician Bobby Dall (Poison) is 44. Actor David Schwimmer is 41. Rapper Nelly is 33. Prodigy (Mobb Deep) is 33. Actor Danny Cooksey is 32.