![\"David](\"http:\/\/www.ktla.com\/media\/photo\/2010-02\/51977040.jpg\" "\\"David")
<\/img>A judge sentenced a Swedish hip-hop artist to 15 years to life in prison Thursday for the road rage murder of a pedestrian in a Hollywood crosswalk. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/img>A judge sentenced a Swedish hip-hop artist to 15 years to life in prison Thursday for the road rage murder of a pedestrian in a Hollywood crosswalk. <\/p>\n
Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson rejected a motion by defense attorneys to reduce David Jassy\u2019s second-degree murder conviction to manslaughter, citing the brutality of the 2008 killing and the defendant\u2019s \u201cphony\u201d trial testimony in which he claimed he acted in self-defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve independently reviewed the evidence, and I agree completely with the jury verdict,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Under the terms of the mandatory sentence, Jassy, 35, who has been jailed since the incident, will be eligible for parole in 2024, when he is 49. He was convicted last month of the fatal assault on John Osnes, a 55-year-old jazz pianist, during a late-night confrontation at the intersection of Selma Boulevard and Schrader Avenue.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said Osnes, who was on foot, struck the hood of Jassy\u2019s rented sport utility vehicle with his hands after the vehicle edged into the crosswalk. Jassy responded, the witnesses said, by leaping from his vehicle, punching Osnes in the face and then kicking him in the head as he bent over.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Johnson told Jassy he did not believe his claim that Osnes, a tall, thin man, posed a danger to the rapper, his girlfriend and his automobile, which the judge described as \u201ca three-quarter ton gross weight sport utility vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before sentencing, a former partner and friend of Osnes, James Crowley, told the judge he felt the victim\u2019s gentle nature was \u201cmaligned\u201d by the defense. Osnes would never have pounded his fists violently on the SUV hood, Crowley said, because as a pianist \u201che valued his hands.\u201d <\/p>\n
Crowley told the judge he saw \u201cno winners\u201d in the jury verdict. The two dozen friends who packed the courtroom had lost Osnes, he said. Then, turning to Jassy, he said, \u201cYou lost most of your life. You lost your son for all practical purposes. You lost the girl you loved.\u201d\u00a0The rapper’s 11-year-old son lives in Sweden.<\/p>\n
Jassy did not speak during the sentencing. His lawyers filed papers Thursday saying they intended to appeal the case.<\/p>\n
— Harriet Ryan at L.A. Superior Court downtown<\/p>\n
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