Local News in Brief : Pre-Sentencing Test
An aspiring screenwriter who wrote a threatening letter to a Norwalk judge who had ruled against him in a lawsuit was ordered Tuesday to undergo a 90-day pre-sentencing evaluation in state prison.
James E. Hetherington, 38, of Los Angeles, was ordered to return to Superior Court Nov. 16 for sentencing by Judge Kathleen O’Leary.
Hetherington pleaded no contest Aug. 3 to one felony count for sending a letter in May to Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs saying she had made “a tactical error . . . that could have cost you your life.” The judge had ruled in favor of a talent agency that had been sued by Hetherington, who claimed he wrote a script that had been made into the movie “Beverly Hills Cop II.”
He faces up to three years in state prison, but O’Leary has indicated that he will be sentenced to no more than 16 months in prison.
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