State Awards $56,000 to 2 Who Accused Mitchelson

Two women who claim they were sexually assaulted by Los Angeles divorce lawyer Marvin Mitchelson were awarded $56,000 for medical and psychiatric care Monday by the state crime victims compensation panel.

The awards, made after determinations that the women were in fact crime victims, came despite earlier findings by prosecutors that there was not enough evidence to charge Mitchelson with the crimes.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office decided not to prosecute in early 1987.

At the request of one of the victims, the California attorney general’s office then looked into the case but decided not to intervene, concluding that the district attorney’s decision not to prosecute was reasonable.

In the midst of an ensuing, highly public effort by the victim to interest the Los Angeles County Grand Jury in investigating, Gilbert Garcetti, then chief deputy district attorney, said: “We’re convinced, based on our investigation, that a crime did not occur.”

Austin Eaton, executive officer of the victims compensation panel, officially the state Board of Control, explained that the board’s standard of proof is substantially less than that of prosecutors. Prosecutors, he said, have to be convinced that they can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt.

“We have to find a preponderance of the evidence,” he said.

The three-member board concluded that it had enough evidence after hearing about 20 minutes of testimony from the women, from a psychiatrist for one of them and from Los Angeles Police Detective Robert Kestler, who investigated the women’s claims in 1986.

Kestler told the panel, meeting in Los Angeles, that he believed that the women--former clients of Mitchelson--were telling the truth when they said the lawyer sexually assaulted them.

One of the assaults was alleged to have occurred in 1981, the other in 1985.

Dr. Gary Shepherd, the psychiatrist for one of the women, Kristin Barrett-Whitney, said he found the award “fascinating.”

“The district attorney won’t prosecute, but the state will pay money, because they say a crime occurred,” he said.

Barrett-Whitney said the ruling gave her “a marvelous feeling of vindication.”

She was awarded up to $23,000 for psychiatric expenses related to the alleged assault, which she said took place in Mitchelson’s Century City office, and up to $23,000 more for related medical expenses.

The second victim, Patricia French, was awarded up to $10,000 for medical expenses, Eaton said. She could not be reached for comment Monday.

The Board of Control gave about $60 million last year to an estimated 25,000 crime victims, Eaton said.

Mitchelson, one of the nation’s best-known attorneys, has steadfastly denied the allegations. He was not invited by the Board of Control to contest them.

“It’s not normal procedure to notify the alleged offender,” Eaton said.

Mitchelson could not be reached for comment Monday.