‘Twilight’ Trial Lawyers to Quiz 1st Prosecutor

Defense attorneys have subpoenaed the initial prosecutor in the “Twilight Zone” case to appear in court Monday to testify about the truthfulness of statements made by the first witness in the long-delayed manslaughter trial that got under way last week.

Production secretary Donna Schuman, called to the stand Thursday by Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino, testified for the first time in three court appearances that she had overheard several potentially damaging remarks made by director John Landis and two co-defendants in 1982.

Landis, she recalled, said, “We’re all going to go to jail” for illegally hiring two child actors who were later killed in a helicopter accident on the film set. Associate producer George Folsey Jr., she added, said that state officials would “put my butt in jail” if they learned special-effects explosives were going to be used on the set.

During cross-examination, Schuman acknowledged that she had not disclosed the defendants’ alleged statements during her appearances before a grand jury and at a preliminary hearing in 1984. She did, however, maintain that she had disclosed the information in interviews with Deputy Dist. Atty. Gary Kesselman, the prosecutor at both earlier hearings.

Defense Plans

Folsey’s attorney, Harland Braun, said the defense will ask Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Roger Boren for permission to ask Kesselman whether Schuman ever informed him of the alleged remarks.

“We want to know if what she is saying is true,” Braun said, “because if she is (telling the truth), then the district attorney’s office has withheld significant statements for years from the defense. If it’s not true . . . the key witness is a liar.”

Kesselman, who withdrew from the case in late 1985, could not be reached for comment Friday. But Deputy Dist. Atty. John Paul Bernardi confirmed that Kesselman had received the subpoena.

Although the papers were served on behalf of Folsey, attorneys for Landis and unit production manager Dan Allingham said their clients also support the action.

D’Agostino, meanwhile, said she stands by Schuman’s testimony.

Child Actors

Landis, Folsey and Allingham are accused of involuntary manslaughter for having allegedly endangered the lives of child actors Renee Chen, 6, and Myca Dinh Lee, 7. Landis, helicopter pilot Dorcey A. Wingo and special-effects coordinator Paul Stewart are also charged with involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of the children and actor Vic Morrow, 53.

The actors were killed in July, 1982, when Wingo’s helicopter crashed into them as they acted out a Vietnam War battle scene that involved several special-effects explosions.