Italian musician needs decision to avoid court (5)
I believe the answer is:
verdi
'italian musician' is the definition.
(Giuseppe Verdi 1813-1901)
'decision to avoid court' is the wordplay.
'decision' becomes 'verdict' (verdict is a kind of decision).
'to avoid' is a deletion indicator.
'court' becomes 'ct' (abbreviation used in road names).
'verdict' with 'ct' removed is 'VERDI'.
'needs' is the link.
(Other definitions for verdi that I've seen before include "Il trovatore composer" , "Emblem of the Knights Hospitallers" , "Giuseppe _____, composer of "La Traviata"" , "one put on at La Scala" , "Diver became a strange composer" .)