Ex-Prosecutor in ‘Twilight’ Case Questioned, Sticks to His Story

In a highly unusual confrontation, the former prosecutor in the “Twilight Zone” case was cross-examined Wednesday by another deputy district attorney about his allegations that a third member of their office, current prosecutor Lea Purwin D’Agostino, tried to pressure him into supporting a key witness’ testimony.

But in two hours of questioning by Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter A. Bozanich, Deputy Dist. Atty. Gary P. Kesselman, who withdrew from the case in late 1985 for personal reasons, stuck to his story attacking D’Agostino’s credibility.

“Threatened isn’t the word, but I thought I was being pressured (by D’Agostino),” Kesselman told the jury. “. . . I said to her, if she was even implying or insinuating that I would commit perjury in this case, she had the wrong guy.”

After the session, D’Agostino told reporters that she will ask to take the witness stand herself during the rebuttal portion of the trial.

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, said Kesselman’s testimony raises questions about whether D’Agostino might have pressured each of the 71 witnesses she presented in the involuntary manslaughter trial of director John Landis and four associates, which began last September.

They also attacked Superior Court Judge Roger W. Boren for allowing the district attorney’s office to question one of its own attorneys after the judge rejected arguments for dismissal, a mistrial or removal of the district attorney’s office from the case because of potential conflicts of interest.

“If this were a normal case, if this weren’t the ‘Twilight Zone’ case, I think the judge would just throw the case out,” Braun said outside court. “But I think the public pressure on this kind of case, the big-case syndrome, makes it difficult for a judge to make any decisive move at all.”

At issue are a series of interchanges between Kesselman and D’Agostino following the testimony of her initial witness in the case, production secretary Donna Schuman, last September.

In her appearance, Schuman testified that she once heard Landis say, “We’re all going to go to jail” for illegally hiring two children who were later killed during filming. Defense attorneys extensively questioned Schuman about why she had not testified about the comment at pretrial hearings.

The next day, according to Kesselman, D’Agostino called him and asked him if he would corroborate Schuman’s statement. Kesselman replied that Schuman had not told him about any such statement by Landis.

Later that day, in an angry closed-door session, Kesselman testified, D’Agostino told him, “Of course, you know she told you that. . . . You’re not important. I’m not important. Schuman is not important. The only thing that’s important is this case.”

Replying to a question from Bozanich, Kesselman icily asserted Wednesday, “Obviously I was concerned” about D’Agostino’s remarks. When asked what concerned him, Kesselman retorted, “My integrity, counsel--17 years as an attorney.”

Later, though, Kesselman conceded that it was an inference rather than a direct threat that caused him to feel pressured.

Outside court, D’Agostino, who had refused comment after Kesselman’s testimony Tuesday, recounted her own version of the September session with him.

“Parts of it occurred,” she said, “and not quite the way that he indicated.

“What I said was that what is not important is your pride, forget your pride. . . . What is important right now is what we are seeking to do. We are not important, it is the overall objective that is important. We have spent many years on this case, a lot of effort has gone in and how can you not corroborate someone who you yourself have told me is the most credible witness you have.”

”. . . I did not yell, I did not scream,” D’Agostino added. “. . . If he construes that as being a threat, then that’s all in his own paranoid mind.”

In an interview later, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Gilbert Garcetti said he “absolutely” believes that D’Agostino did not pressure Kesselman to commit perjury.

Defense attorneys indicated Wednesday that they may conclude their portion of the case as early as next week. Landis and four associates are accused of acting with criminal negligence in the deaths of actor Vic Morrow and the two child actors--who the defense admits were hired illegally without state permits--on the “Twilight Zone” film set in 1982.