The Region - News from March 3, 1987

A defense attorney in the “Twilight Zone” manslaughter trial said director and former child star Jackie Cooper has retracted and apologized for his testimony as a prosecution witness. Attorney Arnold Klein, who represents special effects coordinator Paul Stewart, handed reporters a one-page typed statement signed by Cooper in which the director apologized for raising questions about the qualifications of Stewart and his special effects crew while testifying for the prosecution last month. “I had absolutely no basis,” the statement said, “for stating or implying their lack of qualifications and to the extent that such might be implied, I hereby retract them in their entirety.” Cooper was not immediately available to confirm the statement.