John Travolta Gets a Mea Culpa for Mistrial

Australia

John Travolta Gets a Mea Culpa for Mistrial

Tue., Oct. 27, 2009 1:32 PM PDT by Gina Serpe

AP Photo/Tim Aylen

When it comes to apologies, it's better late than never. When it comes to shooting off your mouth and marring the verdict of a closely watched international trial, never would have been a lot better than any time at all.

Picewell Forbes, the Bahamian MP whose loose lips resulted in a mistrial in John Travolta and Kelly Preston's $25 million extortion case, has finally offered his apologies for his televised and logic-defying declaration that the alleged extortionists had been cleared…before a verdict had actually been rendered.

"My statements were reckless and interfered with the course of justice in that case and were further capable of bringing disrepute to the whole administration of justice," Forbes told reporters during a brief press conference this morning.

Forbes took no questions, as the matter of his gaffe is still pending. His lawyer has maintained that the politico was simply repeating a rumor, though has not yet disclosed the source. A local radio personality as well as a member of parliament, Bahamian papers are speculating that Forbes could invoke journalistic privilege in not explaining how he came into the knowledge of the supposed verdict, though that argument would likely not stand.

He's due to appear in Nassau court on Thursday, when he could face a contempt charge. A retrial is slated to begin early next year.

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