Five Years After Tragedy : Jury Begins Deliberations in ‘Twilight Zone’ Trial

Almost five years after actor Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed in a gruesome film set accident, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury finally began deliberations Monday in the long-running “Twilight Zone” involuntary manslaughter trial.

The 12-member panel, which has heard evidence and arguments for more than eight months, will decide whether director John Landis and four film-making associates acted with criminal negligence in the July 23, 1982, deaths of Morrow, 53, Renee Chen, 6, and Myca Dinh Lee, 7.

The verdict, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino emphasized as she concluded her three-day rebuttal argument, “will finally end the most sordid chapter in the history of motion picture-making.”

Landis, director of such box office comedy smashes as “Trading Places” and “Animal House,” is the only Hollywood director ever to be criminally charged for accidental deaths on a film set, authorities have said. And Renee and Myca were the only children ever to be killed on a Hollywood set, according to the prosecution.

The three actors died when a helicopter, struck by the fireball of a special-effects explosive, plummeted out of control and crashed on them during the late-night filming of a mock Vietnam battle scene at Indian Dunes Park near Saugus.

Jury deliberations, which attorneys in the case have predicted are likely to take at least a week, began after D’Agostino emotionally implored jurors for a final time to convict the defendants in order to “let Vic and Myca and Renee rest in peace, knowing that justice has been done.”

The prosecutor, who presented 71 witnesses in 71 days of prosecution testimony, has vigorously contended that the tragedy occurred because of the defendants’ wantonly reckless conduct on the set.

In her arguments Monday, she termed the incident “an accident waiting to happen” and urged the jury as “the conscience of the community” to condemn the defendants for their actions, which she attributed to “their eagerness for box office success . . . (and) their quest for realism.”

Defense Argument

Defense lawyers, who presented 16 witnesses in 22 days of testimony, have argued that the film makers acted with reasonable caution in placing a helicopter 24 feet above ground in the vicinity of special-effects explosives that were to fire more than 100 feet into the air.

The tragedy was “unforeseen and unforeseeable,” Landis’ attorney, James Neal, contended in his own final argument, because special-effects crew member James Camomile ignored both the instructions of his superiors and standard operating procedures by mistakenly igniting the fatal special-effects explosives before the helicopter was a safe distance away.

Camomile, who was granted immunity by the prosecution, acknowledged during his trial testimony late last year that he did not look up from his firing board as he should have before setting off the blasts.

Relieved That It’s Over

After 116 days of evidence and arguments and another 21 days of jury selection, D’Agostino and the defense attorneys all expressed relief Monday that the case is finally in the hands of the jurors.

“There’s a tremendous sense of relief,” said D’Agostino, noting that the jurors have proved “extremely patient” over the long and sometimes tedious months of testimony.

Neal, who had joked last week that D’Agostino might not conclude her lengthy arguments “as long as she’s got a breath left,” said, “The most important point in this case is: Will the jurors allow the natural emotions of the children’s deaths to overwhelm them?”

After the panel retired to the jury room, where they were to begin by electing a foreman, Superior Court Judge Roger W. Boren placed a gag order on the lawyers, which he said he will lift after a verdict is reached.

Surprise Turn

If it is complied with, the order will mark a surprising new chapter in a trial in which attorneys for both sides have appeared to spend as much time trying their cases--and swapping insults--before reporters in the hallways as they have before the jury inside the courtroom.

The jury deliberated for about an hour Monday before retiring for the day. The panel, which is not being sequestered, is an ethnically diverse, blue-collar-tinged panel that includes a painter, a machinist, a clerk-typist, two hospital employees, two homemakers and a retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers colonel.

If they convict Landis of all the five counts of involuntary manslaughter with which he is charged, the director would face a maximum six-year prison sentence, according to D’Agostino.

Also facing six-year maximum sentences if convicted are helicopter pilot Dorcey Wingo and special-effects coordinator Paul Stewart, both charged with three counts, based on criminal negligence on the film set.

Illegal Hiring Charged

Associate producer George Folsey Jr. and unit production manager Dan Allingham, both charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from their illegal hiring of the child actors, would face five-year maximum sentences upon conviction.

Lawyers for Landis, Folsey and Allingham have acknowledged throughout the trial that their clients illegally hired the children. But the three film makers, who have indicated that they would have pleaded guilty to the illegal hiring, were not charged with that felony by the prosecution.

However, D’Agostino maintained that Landis knew he could not obtain the work permits because the scene they were to act in would be too dangerous. She has acknowledged, however, that Landis had no intention of hurting the actors.