Defense Motion for Dismissal of ‘Twilight Zone’ Charges Denied

The judge in the “Twilight Zone” manslaughter trial Monday rejected a defense motion to dismiss the charges against film director John Landis and four co-defendants as a result of alleged misconduct by the prosecutor in the case, Deputy Dist. Atty Lea Purwin D’Agostino.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Roger W. Boren also quashed subpoenas issued by the defense to Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner and two of his top aides to testify in court about a recent courtroom dispute between D’Agostino and the former prosecutor in the case, Deputy. Dist. Atty. Gary P. Kesselman.

“I feel going into any of these areas is a waste of the court’s resources,” Boren said, “and the case ought to go forward now.”

Defense attorneys heatedly argued for more than an hour that either the case should be dismissed or they should be allowed to call Kesselman, Reiner and others to the stand to learn more about the conflict between the two prosecutors.

The conflict erupted recently when Kesselman--called to the stand without the jury present--testified that a key prosecution witness, production secretary Donna Schuman, had made untrue statements under oath.

Kesselman specifically denied Schuman’s testimony that he had told her that he planned to deliberately withhold some of her statements from the defense to avoid “tipping his hand.” He also denied ever being told by Schuman that Landis had said, “We’re all going to go to jail” for illegally hiring the two child actors who died with actor Vic Morrow in a helicopter accident during the filming of “Twilight Zone.”

Morrow, 53, and the children, Myca Dinh Lee, 7, and Renee Chen, 6, were killed when a helicopter struck them during filming of a Vietnam battle scene. The defendants are charged with involuntary manslaughter under legal theories of child endangerment and gross negligence.

After Kesselman’s denials, D’Agostino, in an unusual move, voluntarily took the witness stand and backed Schuman. She said Schuman had told her about Kesselman’s alleged statements weeks before the trial started.

On Monday, attorney Harland Braun, who represents co-defendant George Folsey Jr., contended in court that he believes D’Agostino perjured herself on the witness stand. He said he wanted to call her fellow prosecutors to the stand “to get to the bottom of this.”

“We will argue to the jury that the prosecutor is a liar,” he said.

But Boren said it was not his function to hold hearings on such allegations. Besides, the judge said, the defense can eventually call Kesselman to the stand with the jury present to impeach Schuman’s testimony.

Then, Boren added, it will be up to the jurors to decide if they believe Schuman or Kesselman.

D’Agostino, who took over the case when Kesselman withdrew last year for personal reasons, expressed outrage at the defense allegations of perjury, noting, “If it was not said in the courtroom, I’d file a lawsuit for slander.”

Later in the day, D’Agostino called Schuman’s husband, Harold, and a Schuman family friend, Gail Wellens, to the stand to corroborate portions of Schuman’s testimony.