Psychologist Tells of His Fear After Confession : Courts: L. Jerome Oziel testifies that he felt his life was endangered after the Menendez brothers told him of killing their parents. He also warned his wife, children and lover of the possible threat.

Alarmed by Erik and Lyle Menendez’s admissions that they had killed their parents, Beverly Hills psychologist L. Jerome Oziel quickly sought advice from colleagues and lawyers, told his wife and children to move to a neighbor’s and sought solace for himself--with his lover.

Within hours after hearing the brothers confess, Oziel testified Thursday, he told his wife he believed she and their family were in danger. Then he drove to his lover’s house and told Judalon Smyth about the chilling confession, saying he feared for her too.

Oziel said under defense questioning that Smyth was “not very” stable when he confided in her. But he was navigating in uncharted territory, he said, when his counseling sessions with the brothers took a threatening turn, and was trying to protect those in the “sphere of danger.”

Lyle Menendez, 25, and Erik Menendez, 22, showed little emotion Thursday in Van Nuys Superior Court as Oziel, the key prosecution witness against them, fielded questions from defense lawyer Leslie Abramson. Oziel also showed little emotion, speaking in a clear, calm voice.

The brothers are charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 20, 1989, shotgun slayings of their parents, Jose Menendez, 45, a wealthy entertainment executive, and Kitty Menendez, 47, in the family’s mansion.

The defense concedes that the brothers killed them but claims it was an act of self-defense after years of physical, sexual and mental abuse. Prosecutors contend that the brothers were driven by hatred and greed, and are seeking the death penalty.

Oziel testified Wednesday that the brothers first confided their roles in the crime during an Oct. 31, 1989, counseling session, then filled in more details two days later.

In her cross-examination, Abramson did not ask Oziel directly about the purported confessions. Instead, she sought to chip away at the psychologist’s credibility, skipping from topic to topic, even asking Oziel whether he once had a “hit man” for a patient.

When Oziel said he had, she asked a few more questions about it, then abruptly dropped the issue.

At one point, outside the presence of jurors, Abramson told Superior Court Judge Stanley M. Weisberg that she hoped by the end of cross-examination to show that Oziel had a pattern of trying “to blackmail and exploit” people in his life.

The judge warned Abramson that she would not be allowed to stray too far from his dealings with the brothers.

She did not ask Oziel about blackmail or whether he believed he was exploiting the brothers. Instead, she came back repeatedly to what Oziel did immediately after the Oct. 31 session. When the brothers left, Oziel said, he was “of the firm belief that Erik and Lyle were going to murder me.”

“Why did you not call police?” Abramson asked.

“I thought I would be killed,” Oziel said.

“The police were going to kill you?” she asked incredulously.

Oziel said he believed that he had the only evidence linking the brothers to the killings and that they might somehow get out of jail and kill him.

Oziel said he tried to phone at least three lawyers he knew but did not recall whether he reached any. But days later, he said, he reached Los Angeles attorney Bradley W. Brunon and told him the brothers had confessed.

As the evening of the 31st wore on, Oziel said, he also called another therapist, who told him he had “an obligation” to warn anyone “I perceived to be in the sphere of danger.”

Oziel said he then called his wife, Laurel, told her what had happened, and made sure she and their children were out of the house. Then he drove to Smyth’s house, he said, even though he was trying to get out of their relationship.

Last year, the California Supreme Court ruled that Oziel acted reasonably in warning his family and even Smyth. The usual rule of therapist-patient confidentiality can be broken after threats from a client, the court said.

Abramson said Thursday she was not challenging Oziel’s reasonableness, but his honesty regarding Smyth, whom she called his “romantic love girlfriend person.”

Lyle and Erik Menendez had not met Smyth and did not know where she lived, Oziel admitted under the defense attorney’s questioning. But he was worried they would go to his house, where he kept confidential files that laid out his business and personal relationship with her, Oziel said, adding: “I definitely felt that she was in danger.”

The psychologist said he felt safe in telling Smyth about the confessions because he had been been weighing a business deal with her--to market psychology audiotapes--and had her sign a broad confidentiality agreement.

Abramson also challenged Oziel’s ability to give a detailed account of the four-year-old meetings with the brothers.

Oziel acknowledged that he did not make written notes of the Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, 1989, sessions. Instead, he tape-recorded his account, but not until at least one week--and possibly two weeks--later. By then, he said, he had seen between 33 and 54 other patients.

Nevertheless, Oziel said, his memory was accurate.

His tape remains sealed. Oziel, who was ordered by Weisberg to testify at the trial, referred frequently Wednesday to a transcript.

Abramson, who will resume her cross-examination today, touched only briefly Thursday on charges recently filed by the state Board of Psychology accusing Oziel of misconduct stemming in part from his relationship with Smyth. The board alleges that he allowed her to secretly tape the brothers’ therapy sessions.

Oziel, who denies any wrongdoing, said: “I’d be happy” to go into the allegations. But Abramson said that would not be necessary.