Prosecutors Will Fight Nicholson’s Legal Move : Courts: The actor plans a ‘civil compromise’ over charges stemming from a dispute with another motorist.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that they will fight a proposal to be made next week by Jack Nicholson, who wants charges of attacking a Mercedes-Benz effectively dismissed because he settled a civil lawsuit with the driver.

An arraignment for the Oscar award-winning actor was delayed for the third time Tuesday so that the victim can appear in court next week and testify about the financial settlement.

Nicholson’s attorney, Charles R. English, for the first time Tuesday publicly acknowledged that he will ask a judge to stall prosecution in a legal move known as a “civil compromise.”

English will make the motion, which could effectively dismiss the misdemeanor charges of assault and vandalism, Monday in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

California law allows a judge to permanently stay misdemeanor criminal actions if the victim receives compensation as a result of a civil lawsuit. A civil compromise effectively dismisses the charges in a case and prevents authorities from later prosecuting.

Skirting the issue of Nicholson’s fame and focusing on the “level of violence,” Deputy City Atty. Jeff Harkavy said he opposes a civil compromise.

Nicholson allegedly used a three-iron golf club to smash the hood and windshield of Robert Scott Blank’s car following a traffic dispute Feb. 8 near the intersection of Moorpark Way and Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake.

English contended in court that Blank, a 38-year-old Hollywood resident who received an undisclosed sum to settle his lawsuit, will testify in favor of a civil compromise.

Harkavy said that was not his understanding. Blank must agree to the civil compromise or else violate the terms of the settlement he negotiated with Nicholson, according to the prosecutor.

“Mr. Blank is not free to come in and say he does not want a civil compromise,” Harkavy said, “or else he would be sued by Nicholson.”

“There is of course a concern,” Harkavy acknowledged, “that the public may perceive that people like Mr. Nicholson can buy their way out of trouble, but that is not the reason we are opposing a civil compromise.”

The prosecutor said his position comes from the allegation that Nicholson swung the golf club “toward the victim’s face” to either injure or intimidate him.

Harkavy said Blank received minor injuries when glass from the windshield struck him in the face. English said the windshield was slightly damaged, with the shattered section only two inches in diameter.

Nicholson, who recently appeared in the film “A Few Good Men,” won an Academy Award in 1975 for his portrayal of a mental patient in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”