Carroll O'connor Cleared In Slander Suit

LOS ANGELES - A jury cleared actor Carroll O'Connor of slander yesterday for calling a cocaine supplier "a partner in murder" in his son's drug-induced suicide.

Harry Perzigian, a 41-year-old songwriter, had sought $10 million and what he called the restoration of his good name in his lawsuit against O'Connor.

Hugh O'Connor, 32, who appeared with his father in television's "In the Heat of the Night," committed suicide March 28, 1995. With high levels of cocaine in his system, he shot himself after a last phone conversation with his father ending with the words, "So long, Pop."

Within hours of his son's death, Carroll O'Connor was on national television identifying Perzigian as his son's drug supplier and calling him "a partner in murder."

Perzigian, who was convicted of possessing and furnishing cocaine to Hugh O'Connor, served a brief jail sentence. When he got out, he filed the slander lawsuit.

He said he never sold drugs to Hugh O'Connor; they just were friends who shared the drug recreationally and split expenses.