Suspect in Hollywood road rage death 'devastated,' his attorney says
David Jassy, a Swedish rapper and songwriter, makes a court appearance, but arraignment is postponed. Jassy is accused of killing John Osnes, a pianist, after a confrontation at a crosswalk.
A Swedish hip-hop artist accused of murdering a jazz pianist in an episode of road rage "is devastated by these events," his attorney said today.
The lawyer for David Jassy, 34, said the fact that the deceased, 55-year-old John Osnes, was "a fellow musician makes it all the sadder."
Jassy appeared briefly in Superior Court this morning. His arraignment was postponed to Dec. 17 to allow his attorney, Donald Etra, more time to read up on the case.
Jassy, a rapper and songwriter who arrived in the U.S. in October, punched, kicked and drove over Osnes after a confrontation in a Hollywood crosswalk, police allege. The assault began, authorities say, after Osnes, who was crossing the intersection on foot, struck the front of Jassy's SUV as it edged into his path.
Jassy's girlfriend, Therese Fischer, was in court. Police say she was in the SUV when Jassy allegedly attacked Osnes.
Witnesses to the Nov. 24 incident include an off-duty Anaheim police officer and two vacationing patrolman from the Melbourne, Australia police force.
A half-dozen of Osnes' friends attended the hearing. Jim Crowley, a close friend of 25 years, said the fact that both men were musicians was not the only irony in the case. Osnes, who grew up in Minnesota, was "100 percent Norwegian" and very proud of his Scandinavian ancestry, Crowley said.
"It doesn't seem right that these two people would collide like this. Jassy's life is ruined. John's life is gone. Everybody is devastated and for nothing," he said.
Jassy is being held on $1 million bail. A prosecutor said today that he will seek an order to move Jassy's passport from the jail property lock-up to court custody.
Ryan is a Times staff writer
harriet.ryan@latimes.com
