Zsa Zsa Is Warned by the Judge: Hold Your Tongue

A judge threatened Friday to hold actress Zsa Zsa Gabor in contempt of court, warning that she is violating a gag order by lashing out publicly at the motorcycle officer she is accused of slapping.

“Yes sir,” the former glamour queen said in response to the order from Municipal Judge Charles Rubin, who told her, “Just say ‘No comment,’ ” when questioned by reporters.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Elden Fox had asked that the actress be held in contempt for violating the gag order issued Tuesday. Fox showed Judge Rubin Friday’s editions of the Los Angeles Times quoting Gabor as calling her arresting officer, Paul Kramer, a liar--a charge she has often made.

“If there’s some question as to the mental competence of the defendant or if she doesn’t understand English, I would like that to be cleared up,” Fox said. “This is a direct violation of the court’s order.”

Responding to Fox’s request, the judge told Gabor: “This is my first and last warning. I’m going to ask you to comply and not make any comments to the media. Just say, ‘No comment.’ ”

The judge was apparently unaware of Miss Gabor’s remarks outside the courtroom just before Friday’s session, in which she again blasted Kramer.

“I like men of achievement, not a man with a gun. . . . I should have scratched his eyes out,” Miss Gabor said.

Shortly after being warned by the judge, Gabor spoke again about the case during a break in the proceedings outside the courtroom. She commented on the attitude she thinks one prosecution witness has toward women.

“He thinks I’m an old lady,” Gabor said of the witness, Marc Kwiatkowski. “He doesn’t like ladies.”

At another point in the proceedings, Kwiatkowski, 27, testified that he saw Gabor slapping Kramer without provocation after the Beverly Hills motorcycle officer stopped her on June 14 for having expired license tags on her cream-colored Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible.

“It’s not every day you see a Rolls-Royce pulled over, and even less that you see the driver getting out of the car,” Kwiatkowski said, adding that he instantly recognized Gabor.

“I thought she was much younger and then I drove by and noticed she was actually a much older woman,” he said.

Kwiatkowski said he saw Gabor and Kramer “standing close together and she suddenly reached up and slapped him.” Kramer then “whisked her to the back of her car, at which point he handcuffed her.”

Kwiatkowski was asked by the prosecution if the 6-foot-4-inch Kramer “manhandled” the 5-foot-4 Gabor, as the defense alleges.

“After the slap, it was just a blur,” he replied. “He (Kramer) just whisked her to the back of the car. I can’t recall exactly how he did it.”

Kramer, who was first called to the stand Thursday, was cross-examined Friday by defense attorney William Graysen.