LOS ANGELES -- The judge in the Vicki Morgan murder trial has ruled that testimony about videotapes, which allegedly show her having sex with high federal officials, is irrelevant and he won't let the jury hear it.
The defense called lawyer Robert Steinberg, who created a sensation when he announced existence of the tapes shortly after Miss Morgan was killed, and asked Superior Court Judge David Horowitz to give him immunity from charges involving the tapes so he could testify.
But Horowitz said he saw no grounds to grant immunity from those charges, and also ruled that Steinberg's sex tape testimony was irrelevent to the murder case.
Steinberg testified outside the presence of the jury during a hearing to decide the relevancy and immunity questions. He repeatedly took the Fifth Amendment when asked about the tapes.
Miss Morgan, 30, longtime mistress of late presidential adviser Alfred Bloomingdale, was battered to death July 7, 1983 at the condominium she shared with defendant Marvin Pancoast.
Pancoast has pleaded innocent and innocent by reason of insanity.
Steinberg faces minor charges in Beverly Hills stemming from allegations he filed a false police report when he announced the sex tapes had been stolen from his office. Existence of the tapes has never been proven.
The ruling to disallow the testimony was a blow to the defense, which has said it believes Pancoast was lying when he confessed the killing, and that someone other than the former talent agency clerk killed Miss Morgan because of the tapes.
'We want to establish through Robert Steinberg that Vicki Morgan ... had material to blackmail somebody,' defense attorney Arthur Barens argued. 'There is a major, strong possibility Vicki Morgan was killed because of those tapes. She looked at them as blackmail insurance.'
Defense co-counsel Charles Mathews asked Steinberg, 'Did you come into possession of tapes depicting Vicki Morgan having sex with various government officials?'
Steinberg took the Fifth.
'Did you come into possession of materials that exculpate Marvin Pancoast?' Mathews asked.
Steinberg said he would 'reluctantly' take the Fifth again.
Prosecutor Stanley Weisberg asked Steinberg if he had the tapes in his possession now, and he again took the Fifth.
Outside court, Mathews said Steinberg's refusal to testify 'has effectively denied us a defense material witness' who is unwilling to give testimony in a murder case because he faces a 'nickle and dime misdemeanor.'
