Compromise Weighed in Abdul-Jabbar Case

If Kareem Abdul-Jabbar undergoes anger management counseling and donates $5,000 to an LAPD youth program, criminal charges stemming from his alleged attack on a man at a strip mall may be dropped, a judge decided Thursday.

West Los Angeles Municipal Judge Joseph Bindman is considering the “civil compromise” in the ex-Laker’s criminal case despite the objection of Deputy City Atty. Mitchell Fox.

Abdul-Jabbar, the National Basketball Assn.’s all-time scoring leader, settled a civil lawsuit earlier this week with the man he allegedly attacked April 20, who now does not “wish to prosecute,” Fox said.

If Abdul-Jabbar fulfills the terms of the compromise--requested by defense attorney Robert Shapiro--Bindman will decide March 19 whether to throw out the battery and false imprisonment charges against him, Fox said.

Shapiro stood in for Abdul-Jabbar at what was scheduled to be his arraignment. Because the charges are misdemeanors, he did not have to attend the proceedings.

The terms of the proposed settlement include 36 hours of anger management classes.

Under the state penal code, Fox said, the defense can seek dismissal of misdemeanor criminal charges if the “crimes have been resolved civilly,” as they were in Abdul-Jabbar’s case.

The victim in this case, Jerry Cohen, received an undisclosed civil settlement Thursday from Abdul-Jabbar, Fox said.