Caan Faces Hearing on Brandishing Gun

Actor James Caan, who allegedly brandished a gun “in a threatening manner” during a parking-lot argument in North Hollywood last March, will be questioned about the incident next month by a city attorney’s hearing officer, authorities said Monday.

The hearing officer will then recommend whether Caan should stand trial on a misdemeanor gun charge, said Mike Qualls, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office.

After the July 6 hearing at the city attorney’s office in Van Nuys, the hearing officer also could recommend rejecting the case or “taking it off calendar,” meaning Caan would be on informal probation for a year, during which the charges could be filed at any time “if there is a resumption of problems,” Qualls said.

The final decision on whether to prosecute will be made by the deputy city attorney handling the case. Caan, 52, faces a maximum of six months in County Jail if convicted.

Caan was arrested after a confrontation in the parking lot of the apartment complex, in which a rap musician accused him of pulling a gun during an argument. Caan was there to visit his brother, who lived at the complex at the time, authorities said.

The hearing was scheduled, Deputy City Atty. Rick Schmidt said, because there have been conflicts in the statements of a number of witnesses.

“It will be an investigative hearing, where we try to separate the wheat and the chaff,” said Schmidt, supervising attorney at the Van Nuys office.

An authority close to the case said the conflicts among witness statements focus on the manner in which Caan displayed the gun and whether he had a right to brandish it, conceivably in defense of another person.