Guilty Plea In 'Wizard Of Oz' Ruby Slippers Case Postponed Due To Hospitalization
HuffPost
Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of Crystal, Minnesota, was planning to change his plea to guilty on Friday, but has since come down with a potentially life-threatening infection.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A hearing where a Minnesota man was expected to plead guilty to hiding a stolen pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz” was postponed indefinitely Wednesday after his attorney told the court that the man is hospitalized.
U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz granted the continuance at the request of the attorney for Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of Crystal, who was planning to change his plea to guilty at a hearing that was scheduled for this coming Friday.
Defense lawyer John Brink said Saliterman was hospitalized Jan. 3 “for inability to walk and sepsis,” an infection that can be life-threatening. He wrote that Saliterman remained hospitalized Wednesday and that doctors do not know when he will be available. Federal prosecutors did not object.
Saliterman attended his arraignment Monday via video from what looked like a hospital room. He was in a wheelchair and on supplemental oxygen last March at his first court appearance. He was charged then with theft of a major artwork and witness tampering for his role in the ruby slippers case.
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