Prosecutor Accused of Lewd Conduct Is Fired

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has fired the original prosecutor in the “Twilight Zone” manslaughter case, citing his recent arrest for allegedly having sex with a prostitute, his lawyer said Tuesday.

But the lawyer contended that the real reason Deputy Dist. Atty. Gary Kesselman was fired Monday was because he fell out of favor with his superiors over his role in the “Twilight Zone” case against director John Landis and four associates.

“Gary believes his discharge is a political act growing out of the ‘Twilight Zone’ case,” lawyer Warren Ettinger said.

He said that Kesselman, 45, a veteran prosecutor who had been on an indefinite leave of absence without pay since his Oct. 14 lewd conduct arrest, plans to appeal his dismissal within 15 days to the county Civil Service Commission.

Kesselman is also seeking a stress-related disability award from the county.

Kesselman was the original prosecutor in the involuntary manslaughter case stemming from a July, 1982, helicopter crash that killed actor Vic Morrow and two children during filming of “Twilight Zone: The Movie.”

He was removed from the case in late 1985, allegedly for poor job performance, and replaced with Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino.

Lawyer Harold Greenberg, a close friend of Kesselman, said Kesselman told him that the real reason the office fired him was because during the trial earlier this year, he refused to support the alleged perjured testimony of a key D’Agostino witness.

Kesselman in September filed a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit against D’Agostino, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Gilbert I. Garcetti, the No. 2 official in the office, and Richard Hecht, another high-ranking member of the office, accusing them of pressuring him into supporting the testimony of the witness.

Following a 10-month trial, Landis and the four co-defendants were acquitted last May 29 of the manslaughter charges.

Ettinger said the office notified Kesselman last month that it intended to fire him on grounds of conduct unbecoming a prosecutor stemming from his arrest.