Randy Valli Guilty of Striking Restaurateur

The wife of ‘60s singing icon Frankie Valli burst into tears Friday when told she had been convicted of misdemeanor battery for slapping a Moorpark restaurant owner during a dispute over an expensive meal.

After deliberating one day, a Ventura County jury rejected 39-year-old Randy Valli’s testimony that she accidentally pushed the owner during a scuffle.

The verdict outraged Valli’s attorney, who asked the judge to strike the decision on the grounds it was not supported by the evidence. His request was denied.

Outside the courtroom, Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lonergan praised the jury for sorting through conflicting testimony offered by more than a dozen witnesses during the two-week trial.

“The jury was able to hear all the evidence and they came to the right decision,” he said. “Their [the defense] version didn’t work.”

As Lonergan spoke to reporters outside the courtroom, defense attorney Louis “Chuck” Samonsky called his client to tell her that she had been found guilty. Valli, who lives in Calabasas, was not present when the verdict was announced in Ventura County Superior Court.

“She started to cry,” Samonsky said. “She wasn’t able to talk.”

Valli, a mother of three, faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. A sentencing hearing is set for May 28, at which time Samonsky intends to ask for a new trial, he said.

He contends that the judge erred by not allowing him to present evidence of other fights involving restaurant owner Sandra “Alex” Sofsky, including an alleged tussle at a ritzy country club golf shop.

According to some accounts, Valli struck Sofsky after being asked to leave the upscale Secret Garden restaurant because Valli and her dinner companions were being loud, rude and critical of the menu prices.

The Vallis were dining with singer Frankie Avalon and his wife, Kay. All four testified that it was Sofsky who was being rude and loud.