It's the kind of case Court TV would eat up. Unfortunately, Teri Hess, who changed sex several years ago and was allegedly beaten by security at the Penisula Hotel in Beverly Hills for probably making that decision, looked around Courtroom Q in Santa Monica Monday. Hess was disappointed. No Court TV. No TV of any kind, period. Hess, who admits to being a publicity hound, said she called a reporter at Channel 4 to tip them off about the trial but didn't get a return call. Which is odd, because when Hess filed suit against the hotel two years ago, the LA press was all over the story like white on rice.
Nevertheless, jurors were selected yesterday, six men and six women, in the Hess trial which begins in earnest 10:30 Tuesday morning in the Santa Monica courtroom. Hess will testify Tuesday and will continue for the entire day. Hess said it's anticipated that it will take at least two weeks for all the testimony to air.
"I'll be giving quite a bit of testimony," says Hess. "Then they'll cross examine the shit out of me. They have permission to go after me for everything that I've done in my life. They're going to grill the fuck out of me so it should be pretty entertaining in a perverse sort of way. But I'm ready for it."
Because of the holidays, Hess said there was some doubts whether there'd be a big enough jury pool to end up with one. "It was iffy but we did pick a jury plus two alternates," Hess said. Hess said there was concern about prospective jurors bringing preconceived attitudes.
"It's really an interesting process [jury selection]. You get to know a lot about them. They were all pretty candid and honest about what their prejudices are."
The defense according to Hess, 86-ed only one person, while his side eliminated the six they were allowed. Hess acknowledges that there are problems because of the fact his psychologist died. "I'm lacking in some expert testimony with respect to that," Hess said. "But it's an overwhelming case for the defense. They don't have a prayer in hell of finding me being at fault for getting beat up. As usual, the issue is going to be damages and that sort of thing. I feel good about it.
