Adair Asks to Be Declared Innocent of Murder

Saying not guilty isn’t good enough, a mother acquitted of murdering her husband with a baseball bat has asked a judge to declare her innocent.

Jeanie Adair, 39, has always maintained that a stranger forced his way into her Sylmar condominium three years ago, robbed and beat her, then killed her husband when he stumbled upon the crime during a lunchtime visit home.

The motion, a rare petition, is nothing more than an effort to clear her name so that she will not have to list the arrest in future job applications, said her lawyer, Richard Plotin.

Prosecutors and the victim’s family aren’t so sure.

“Strategically, he wants to do it to add another arrow in his quiver in case he wants to file a lawsuit against the county for malicious prosecution,” offered Deputy Dist. Atty. Marlo Dickman, who is opposing the motion.

“This is ridiculous,” said Dan Meyers, the victim’s brother, who wonders whether Plotin may be trying to thwart a wrongful death lawsuit. “They can’t just leave things alone.”

One legal expert said a finding of factual innocence could affect civil lawsuits, if only to discourage the family from seeking redress.

Plotin said he has no intention of filing suit against the government. And it’s too late for Robert Adair’s family to file a civil suit because the statute of limitations has elapsed, Plotin said.

Moreover, he said his efforts are a response to statements by Robert Adair’s mother and Deputy Dist. Atty. Marsh Goldstein, who insist that Jeanie Adair ambushed her 40-year-old husband, crushing his skull with repeated blows to end a crumbling marriage and collect $400,000 in insurance.

Goldstein has publicly complained that Adair was acquitted simply because the judge consistently ruled against the prosecution in retribution for appealing a pretrial ruling.

“They’re saying she got away with murder,” Plotin said. “This gives the judge the opportunity” to determine whether Adair should ever have been prosecuted.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge L. Jeffrey Wiatt is expected to rule on the matter at a hearing Thursday.

Laurie Levenson, criminal law professor at Loyola Marymount University, said motions to determine factual innocence are rarely filed or granted, because a judge must find that the defendant essentially should never have been arrested.

“It says, basically, that you didn’t do anything wrong,” Levenson said. “They’re unusual because even when a defendant is acquitted, it doesn’t mean there wasn’t a reasonable cause to arrest him.”

Prosecutors say the judge has already ruled on essentially the same question in the middle of the trial. After the people rested, Plotin moved for a directed verdict of acquittal and Wiatt denied it, finding that there was some evidence of guilt.

To decide now that she’s innocent “would be an inconsistent ruling,” Dickman said.

Plotin, who has twice before prevailed in similar petitions--one after another woman was acquitted of murdering her husband--said Wiatt made that ruling before the defense put on its case. He said the defense evidence could have changed Wiatt’s view of the strength of the prosecution.

“If I didn’t think the case was bad from the beginning and shouldn’t have been prosecuted,” Plotin said, “I wouldn’t be wasting everybody’s time.”