Man wants conviction tossed in Dunst handbag heist
(Agencies)
2010-06-24 11:00
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NEW YORK – A man who says he was duped into helping take Kirsten Dunst's designer purse from a New York City hotel suite is trying to get his burglary conviction tossed.
A lawyer for James Jimenez (JIH'-mehn-ehz) asked a judge Wednesday to overturn jurors' guilty verdict in the August 2007 heist.
Lawyer Robert Parker is questioning the judge's decision not to declare a mistrial after a juror acknowledged seeing a newspaper article about the trial and briefly mentioning the story to other jurors.
Prosecutors declined to comment. A ruling is expected in August.
Dunst's purse, actor Simon Pegg's cell phone and other items were stolen from a suite they used while filming "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People."
Jimenez says he was accompanying a co-defendant he thought had permission to be there.