Man, 31, Found Guilty of Stalking Spielberg

Moving swiftly in a case that underscores the extremes of celebrity obsession, a Santa Monica jury Wednesday convicted a 31-year-old former bodybuilder of stalking Steven Spielberg last year because he was sexually fixated on the famous film director.

The verdict, reached in less than four hours, sets the stage for an April 22 sentencing that could send Jonathan Norman to prison for 25 years to life.

“I’m absolutely elated,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Rhonda Saunders told reporters after the verdict was announced. “Number one, it shows that in California we can protect victims of stalking. And number two . . . that our stalking law really, really works.”

But as surely as Saunders suggested that the verdict was evidence of swift justice, Norman’s defense attorney, John C. Lawson II, portrayed it--and his client’s possible sentence--as a travesty.

Indeed, the deputy public defender charged, it would be “evil” to sentence Norman to a virtual lifetime in prison when he “clearly has mental problems.”

Norman, who did not blink when the verdict was announced, has been in custody in lieu of $1 million bail since he was arrested last summer outside Spielberg’s Pacific Palisades estate for violating parole. The violation arose from a 1995 Santa Monica case in which Norman pleaded no contest to assault after driving his car toward a group of tourists during an argument.

At the time of his arrest last year, according to testimony, Norman had handcuffs, duct tape and a box cutter knife. Further investigation turned up a day planner that not only contained details about Spielberg and his family but also a bizarre shopping list that included eye masks, dog collars and chloroform.

And during conversations with a former roommate and police, authorities said, Norman openly acknowledged a desire to rape Spielberg.

Although jurors left the courthouse Wednesday declining comment about the case, they were clearly moved during the seven-day trial by the somber testimony of Spielberg, who took the stand in Judge Steven C. Suzukawa’s courtroom amid tight security.

“No one before has come into my life in a way to do me harm or my family harm,” Spielberg told jurors last week. “I really felt--and I still to this day feel--I am prey to this individual.”

Although Spielberg and his family were in Ireland during Norman’s several attempts to enter the estate, the director said he remained terrified by the stalker’s obsession.

Spielberg was not in court Wednesday, but a spokesman for the law firm that represents him said the director and his family were relieved by the verdict and “very, very grateful to the jury.”

It was unclear, authorities said, whether Spielberg or his family will appear at Norman’s sentencing to address the judge.

However, Suzukawa will certainly be asked to use his discretion under California’s three-strikes law to sentence Norman to something less than 25 years to life. The judge could choose to overlook one or both of Norman’s previous felony convictions and sentence him to four years or seven years.

Citing Norman’s bizarre behavior and evidence of a methamphetamine binge before his arrest, defense attorney Lawson said he found it unconscionable that his client could be imprisoned for decades.

“I think we have a criminal charge placed against this man when clearly what he needs is some kind of treatment in a mental hospital,” the lawyer said.

Lawson said he did not raise Norman’s mental competency as an issue because that defense is difficult and used in only a small percentage of criminal cases.

And the part-time writer and actor’s efforts to reach Spielberg, Lawson said, were part of a “delusional, drug-induced” belief that if he could get close enough to the director, he could succeed in the film industry.

But prosecutor Saunders said the jury’s verdict proved Norman to be just what authorities alleged: a dangerous predator.

“There’s a difference between wacko and dangerous,” she said, insisting that Norman clearly was the latter.