Lack of Jury Delays Alec Baldwin Trial

Alec Baldwin was in Van Nuys Municipal Court on Wednesday, ready to begin his battery trial for allegedly socking a member of the paparazzi in the face.

The media horde was there, looking for live shots of the sleekly groomed Baldwin--star of “The Hunt for Red October” and “The Marrying Man” and husband of movie star Kim Basinger--battling for his good name and freedom.

Baldwin faces up to six months in jail if convicted on the misdemeanor charge.

The only thing missing was the jury.

Jury selection was delayed until almost the end of the day because all available prospective jurors were sent to a jury pool for a felony trial in Superior Court, leaving a tight-lipped Baldwin and an antsy press corps to cool their heels in an empty courtroom.

“We’re cooked today,” UPI reporter Dennis Love grumbled.

“What a waste,” sighed a television reporter a few hours later. “We could have had the whole trial by now.”

Baldwin faces one misdemeanor battery charge for allegedly breaking 51-year-old Alan Zanger’s nose last October in Woodland Hills after Zanger videotaped Baldwin arriving home from the hospital with Basinger and their newborn daughter.

Thus began a cycle familiar to celebrity watchers: Zanger, a well-known member of the Hollywood paparazzi, placed Baldwin under citizen’s arrest, and days later filed a lawsuit against him. Baldwin sued Zanger, and the city attorney filed misdemeanor charges against Baldwin.

Zanger “was hurt pretty substantially,” said his lawyer, Neil S. Steiner. “I think it’s horrific, the message he [Baldwin] sends out to the American public today--particularly the youth, that it’s all right to use fists.”

Baldwin’s attorney, Charles English, says his client is innocent and Zanger is guilty of crossing the line of good taste. “These kinds of stalkers and aggressive people need to understand that they can’t do this,” English said.

Most celebrities charged with misdemeanors plead no contest to avoid high-profile trials and a conviction that could be used against them in a civil suit, said English, who has represented several famous clients.

But Baldwin wants to prove his innocence in open court, English said. “He has taken a lot of kidding from Jay Leno, but he hasn’t really had a chance to say what happened.”