Metro

Shadowing Kim

KRIS HUMPHRIES No-show annoys judge.

KRIS HUMPHRIES No-show annoys judge.

TIGHT COVER: Lawmen flank Kim Kardashian yesterday as she leaves court after a hearing in her messy split from hoopster Kris Humphries. (
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A very pregnant, very protected Kim Kardashian showed up — but Kris Humphries didn’t.

The “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star arrived under heavy security for a pretrial settlement conference at a Los Angeles courthouse in what was regarded as the last stop before a messy trial to end her 72-day marriage to Humphries.

Kardashian was brought into the courtroom through a back entrance, her hair tied back in a high ponytail and wearing a print-like tunic dress over white pants.

She was not accompanied by any members of her famous family, or by boyfriend Kanye West, the father of her unborn child.

She kept her hands crossed on her lap while she quietly listened to Judge Hank Goldberg explain to reporters that the hearing would be closed to the public.

“I always wanted to be a juror,” she joked to deputies before taking her seat in the jury box.

Conspicuously absent was her estranged husband.

Humphries, a power forward with the Brooklyn Nets, was supposed to attend the mandatory hearing, but was stuck in New York, sources close to him told TMZ.com.

The judge wasn’t happy to see only half of the couple, who were supposed to be trying to reach a deal.

Judge Greenberg angrily scheduled a sanctions hearing, indicating that Humphries could be fined for contempt of court due to his absence, TMZ reported.

The judge also ordered both Kardashian and Humphries to attend another closed-door hearing next week.

To no one’s surprise, the hearing ended without a settlement. Kardashian was flanked by deputies as she left the courthouse at about noon.

Humphries’ attorneys weren’t talking about the status of settlement discussions or why their client failed to appear.

But Humphries blamed a flight cancellation or delay, according to E! News.

The failure of yesterday’s hearing leaves the trial, expected to last about a week, still scheduled to begin on May 6.

Kardashian is seeking a divorce, while Humphries wants an annullment.

He claims the marriage was based on fraud, apparently because he believes Kardashian married him only because of her reality-TV show. The two were wed in August 2011 in a ceremony that aired as a two-hour special program. Kim filed for divorce in October.

In pretrial maneuvering, Kardashian, 32, accused her 28-year-old husband of stalling.

She tried, and failed, to move the trial date up by a few days so she could be in New York for a prior commitment.

Her mother, Kris Jenner, is expected to testify on her daughter’s behalf at the trial. At least two other witnesses are expected to appear to buttress her case. Humphries s expected to call five witnesses buthas not yet filed his witness list.