‘Twilight’ Lawyers Fight Studio Over Pay

For almost nine months, defense attorneys in the “Twilight Zone” trial have been pitted against a tough prosecutor in a daily courtroom struggle to win acquittal for their clients.

Outside the courtroom, three of the lawyers are also fighting a fierce battle against Warner Bros. Inc. to be paid for their legal efforts in the involuntary manslaughter case.

The film company--which in mid-1986 advanced about $100,000 each to lawyers for associate producer George Folsey Jr., unit production manager Dan Allingham and special-effects coordinator Paul Stewart--has refused repeated requests for further payments.

Suit Threatened

And now, as the attorneys prepare to deliver their final arguments this week, they are also threatening to sue Warner Bros. for punitive damages as well as legal fees of more than $200,000 each.

“Your conduct with regard to the defense in the ‘Twilight Zone’ case is outrageous and inexcusable,” wrote Folsey’s attorney, Harland Braun, in a March 25 letter to Warner Vice President and General Counsel John A. Schulman.

“What duty to cooperate do we have with respect to a company that has done everything it can to send defendants to jail?

“Is Warner Bros. attempting to strangle the defense so that we do not point our finger at executives in high positions who are trying to cover their asses?” Braun added, in the letter obtained by The Times. “I know of no other reasonable explanation for Warner Bros.’ attempt to destroy the defense.”

Braun continued his attack in an April 2 follow-up letter to Schulman.

“I can’t wait until you and (Steven) Ross (chief executive of Warner Communications) squirm for days when trying to explain to a civil jury your outrageous conduct to employees who were merely carrying out the precise instructions of Warner Bros.,” he wrote.

In an interview last week, Braun, who said he received $95,000 from Warner Bros. last summer, declared, “They give us enough money to sort of keep us on the hook thinking they can manipulate us. But I’m not manipulable.”

Folsey, who has refused comment on the situation, has paid him another $115,000 out of his own pocket, Braun said.

Comment Refused

Schulman, in a recent telephone interview, refused comment on the entire issue of the legal bills.

Schulman also did not cite specific reasons for the firm’s actions in letters he sent to the defense attorneys last month, which were supplied to The Times by a defendant’s attorney.

“As I have informed you, I have not and will not examine any bills you render to Dan Allingham or others until such time, if ever, that it is appropriate for Warner to do so,” Schulman wrote to Allingham’s lawyer, Leonard Levine.

Attorney Michael L. Robins, who represents Stewart in attempting to collect the legal fees for Arnold L. Klein, Stewart’s trial counsel, said Warner Bros. has taken the position in oral discussions that “they’re not sure whether these individuals were employees of Warners and they’re not sure whether they were acting on behalf of Warners in carrying out their responsibilities to Warners when (the film set deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two child actors) happened.”

“Now that’s a lot of hogwash,” Robins asserted. “Everyone worked for Warners. . . . This was a straight studio production.”

In addition, Robins contended, the California Labor Code requires that Warners pay the defendants’ legal bills, regardless of whether the defendants are found guilty.

The code reads: “An employer shall indemnify his employee for all that the employee necessarily expends or loses in direct consequence of the discharge of his duties as such, or of his obedience to the directions of the employer, even though unlawful, unless the employee, at the time of obeying such directions, believed them to be unlawful.”

In the case of the “Twilight Zone,” Robins emphasized, the involuntary manslaughter charges stem from acts of alleged negligence rather than from any previous knowledge that the three actors would be killed while participating in the filming. If the defendants, who also include director John Landis and helicopter pilot Dorcey Wingo, knew the actors would die, they would have been charged with murder, attorneys said.

Agreement With Studio

At the time the defense lawyers received the payments last summer, the defendants signed agreements with Warner Bros. saying that they would return the money if they were eventually found guilty or pleaded guilty or no contest.

However, such agreements are not legally binding, their lawyers contend.

“It’s like somebody holding a loaded gun to your head and saying, ‘Jump off the bridge or I’m going to shoot you in the head,’ ” said Klein, Stewart’s attorney. “Paul jumped. But I hope there’s a soft landing.”

Klein added last week that the payment battle is emotionally draining for the defendants and the lawyers.

“The bottom line is I’ve got to do battle against the judge, the sheriff, and the prosecutor,” he said. “The last thing I ever thought is I’d have to do battle against Warners too.”

As of March 31, Warner Bros. owed Klein $290,000, Braun $241,000 and Levine $217,000, according to figures supplied by Robins. The fees were computed at the rate of $200 an hour for Klein and Levine and $225 an hour for Braun.

Last summer, shortly after jury selection began, Warner Bros. advanced $110,000 to Klein, $100,000 to Levine and $95,000 to Braun. The firm has also paid the attorneys for their services in the 1984 preliminary hearing and other pretrial phases of the case.

While the per-hour fees might seem high at first glance, one must factor in taxes, Century City office rent and investigative and secretarial support staffing, Levine said.

“I can’t live on $100,000 for nine months of trial. It is a financial hardship because of the length,” said Levine, referring to the fact that the trial had initially been expected to conclude no later than last Christmas.

In a letter to Schulman last month, Levine wrote: “I have devoted every waking minute of my life to the defense of Mr. Allingham. However, it is apparent that my effort has not been matched by Warner Bros. Inc.’s interest in protecting the rights of its employees.”

Suit Advised

Levine said he will advise Allingham to sue the firm for the legal fees, punitive damages and loss of time from work during the trial, in which jury selection began last July.

If Warner Bros. eventually wins a court battle on the issue, the three defendants would be responsible for the hefty bills.

“It’s a burden for anybody who works for a living,” said Stewart, who was paid about $25 an hour for his work on the “Twilight Zone.” “It’s just murder on you, that’s what it is.”

Attorneys for the other two defendants are not facing the same situation as Levine, Braun and Klein.

Eugene L. Trope, who represents Wingo, is being paid through the insurance carrier of Wingo’s employer, Western Helicopters. Wingo was hired as an independent contractor on the “Twilight Zone” film.

Robins speculated that one reason Warner Bros. might be so stubborn is that one of their insurance carriers went bankrupt last year.

Meanwhile, Nashville attorneys James Neal and James Sanders, who represent Landis, are being paid directly by the prominent film director.

“I didn’t make a deal with Warner Bros,” Neal, a former Watergate prosecutor, said last week. “But Landis would have the same claim as the others against Warner Bros.”

Landis had no comment.