Mel Gibson Gets Plea Deal in Criminal Abuse Case

By Zach Dionne Posted Mar 9th 2011 12:45PM

Mel Gibson has taken a plea deal in his ongoing criminal case, TMZ reports. The site's sources say Mel will make a court appearance Friday and make a no contest battery plea, meaning he will not spend time in jail for a reported incident of abuse on Jan. 6, 2010.

RadarOnline.com reports that Alexander "Sasha" Dalton, the son of Mel's allegedly abused baby mama Oksana Grigorieva, was set to testify as the star witness. Sasha, 13, is the child of Oksana and actor Timothy Dalton.

"One major reason why this case was being brought against Mel Gibson, more than a year after the alleged incident took place, is because Sasha was made available to testify at a potential criminal trial against Mel," a source close to the case tells Radar. "Sasha's involvement and cooperation in the case was absolutely essential, and because he is a minor, both of his parents had to agree to let him participate, and that took some time to make happen."

"Even though Mel believed he could win the case, he struck the deal to protect his loved ones," TMZ writes.

Gibson's lawyer, Blair Berk, released the following statement to TMZ:

"I know from almost 20 years as a criminal defense lawyer that sometimes justice can come for a client at too high a personal price. That is particularly so for Mel, whose right to due process can only be exercised in this case with an enormous media circus attached.

Mel's priority throughout all of this has been that the best interests of his young daughter Lucia and the rest of his children be put first in any decisions made. It is with only that in mind that he asked me to approach the District Attorney with a proposal that would bring all of this to an immediate end."

Though the criminal case appears close to an end, RadarOnline contends that Mel's image-rehab is far from over. "The way many people perceive Mel is forever changed," Radar's Managing Editor and Executive Vice President David Perel tells PopEater. "Mel's taped rants, with racist, violent and misogynistic language, will never be erased from the public consciousness. The aftereffects will linger for a long, long time."

See fan reactions to the fierce Mel Gibson audio rants that started it all:

Tags: Mel Gibson, Oksana Grigorieva

Comments

(41)

Wednesday 09 March

By miles1202

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I am appalled that you use "baby moma" in your article. You call yourselves journalists? Not only is this bad slang, it is racist and frankly offensive. This is exaclty what they refer to when the term "The Dumbing of America" is used. Who writes this crap, high school kids from the inner city?

By dxcdfer

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Gregorieva is and may be the biggest Russian tramp, but Mel Gibson, regardless of how good a actor he may be, is still a alcoholic, racist, anti semitic and cheating husband and father, and has disgraced his so called devout catholic religionI love this , So does My boyfriend .he is almost 11year older than me .i met him via agegapsin gles.c'om a nice place for seeking age le ss love.which gives you a chance to make your life better and open opportunities for you to meet the attractive young girls and treat you like a king. Maybe you wanna check it out or tell your friends.. Just love it

By OfAlaska

Enough of raining on Mel. He has redeeming virtues as well, unlike that SPAMMER who keeps putting the 'meet young girls'and 'love this,' who should be hunted down, disemboweled and burned at the stake. (Not virtually either!)

By GEORGE W

ROGER "THE DUMBING OF AMERICA"
RECENTLY SAW A LARGE SIGN ON A BUSINESS.
"NOW EXCEPTING APPLICATIONS" YEH..RIGHT
WENT INTO A DRUG STORE, ASKE A CLERK (SHE WAS WEARING AT LEAST 5 PIECES OFHARDWARE IN HER EARS)IFWHERE I COULD FIND A MED FOR LARYNGITIS
MS EINSTEIN ASKED WHAT LARYNGITIS WAS ..."DUHH, WHAZZAT?"
A DOCTOR FRIEND WAS RECENTLY SENT A PATIENT FRON AN URGENT CARE.
THE URGENT CARE ATTENDANT SUSPECTED THAT THE PATIENT HAD "AMMONIA"..WTF ? I SURE WON'T GO TO THAT URGENT CARE

By mousey

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grow up a--hole, your;e being racist

Thursday 10 March

By TJK

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miles1202,
You are absolutely correct,this is the direction this Country is going,and we all know why............

By oohoohdonna

Mel Gibson - a real "devout Catholic." Don't make me laugh. I wouldn't spend a nickel to see one of his movies. I don't know who's more phony, him or the pedophile-protecting archbishops.

By kay

That's perfectly OK with everyone else oohooh - keep your nickel so the rest of us can still enjoy this great actor's skills!

By Sweet Daisy

Keep you 5 cents and look to yourself and your own dirty linen. Could it stand to go public? So very easy to judge someone that you do not know on a personal level. Now take your 5 cents and your childish screen name and go away.

By William

Mel Gibson should send a thank you note and flowers to Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan for deflecting publicity.

By Andy

They could start a new show called "Rant and Rave Reality".

By Mary

That's funny.

By Linda

He met a crackpot and she won. I believe she was only with him for the money and I do believe she was out to extort him from the very beginning! Don't mess with those Russian women, just look at that Russian spy tramp! She walked and not only that got a tv show for a reward!

By Boston Blackie

You are so right. I imagine that she did a lot of research and was well aware of what buttons to punch. Who carries a tape recorder around to tape conversations and or outbursts unless they intend to black mail someone.

By joe

Sorry that Russian tramp got over on the road warrior like that.

By joan

By Liz Seely

Are you saying tha you thought Bill Clinton should not have been President?

Bill Clinton is not Catholic. Bill Clinton is not an alcholic. Bill Clinton is not anti semitic. Bill Clinton did cheat on his wife, but never got a woman pregnant nor did he slap the women.
Bill Clinton had one daughter not an entire brood as Gibson did.

By Phil

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Well...that describes 90% of hollywood.

Monday 28 March

By fred

see what living with that russian woman did to mel, dont let her cause you more pain mel,get back on track.there will always be someone who thinks vengence is theirs.im one who is looking forword, hoping to see better days for everyone. fred

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