Murder suspect is ‘devastated’

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 Wednesday.

The lawyer for David Jassy, 34, said the fact that the dead man, John Osnes, 55, was “a fellow musician makes it all the sadder.”

Jassy’s arraignment was postponed to Dec. 17 to allow his attorney, Donald Etra, more time to prepare.

Jassy, a rapper and songwriter who arrived in the United States 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. 23 incident include an off-duty Anaheim police officer and two vacationing patrolmen from Australia.

Half a dozen of Osnes’ friends attended the hearing. Jim Crowley, a 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% Norwegian” and very proud of his Scandinavian ancestry, Crowley said.

Jassy is being held in lieu of $1-million bail. A prosecutor said he would seek an order to move Jassy’s passport from the jail property lockup to court custody.

-- Harriet Ryan