4 of 6 Sex Charges Dismissed by Judge

A judge Thursday threw out four of the six charges against a onetime Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy accused of raping his wife and a phone sex actress from Calabasas.

Harris Scott Mintz, 41, who was once assigned to the Lost Hills-Malibu Sheriff’s Station, must stand trial on two counts of felony sexual assault for allegedly raping a Calabasas woman in her home Dec. 22, 1995, while on duty, Municipal Judge Stephen Marcus ruled at the preliminary hearing.

However, the judge dismissed four counts against Mintz after his wife testified she lied to police investigators about three alleged incidents of spousal rape to get back at her husband for marital infidelities.

“There are too many problems with [the woman’s] allegations,” said Marcus, who rejected the prosecution’s contention Mintz’s wife suffered from “classic battered women’s syndrome.”

Defense lawyers James E. Blatt and Darren Kavinoky--who argued successfully to have Mintz’s bail dropped from $1 million to $600,000--expressed confidence their client would ultimately prevail.

“The prosecution has some serious problems in this case,” Blatt said. Among them, he cited, the victim’s work as a phone sex actress, her alcoholism and her drunken state at the time of the alleged crime, a desperate financial situation and her failure to alert authorities after she said a crime was committed.

But those claims were rejected by Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Steinfeld. “I feel she’s very credible,” Steinfeld said. “She doesn’t hide anything. . . . She’s willing to admit to being in a difficult time and place in her life. It was for those reasons Deputy Mintz chose her as a victim.”

Marcus concurred. “This defendant found a perfect victim,” the judge said. “She was easily controllable. . . . He came to the conclusion that no one would believe her.”

Mintz, a 10-year veteran, surrendered last November after an 11-month internal affairs investigation and following a $100,000 settlement the woman reached with Los Angeles County.

Mintz’s arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 27 in Los Angeles Superior Court.