‘Babydol’ Lawyer Criticizes Police

An attorney for Jody “Babydol” Gibson accused police Thursday of keeping key witnesses from the defense in violation of a court order.

During a lengthy emergency hearing, attorney Gerald Scotti said police have failed to produce three of the five victims in the case, prostitutes who allegedly worked for Gibson. Scotti wants to call them as defense witnesses during a preliminary hearing next week.

After serving a subpoena for two other call girls who refused to talk to the defense lawyer, Scotti said one detective told him: “This is war.”

“A lot of unnecessary roadblocks and obstacles have been thrown in the way of our trying to get to the truth,” Scotti said after the hearing. “I got fed up.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard F. Walmark defended police, saying they have been working diligently to set up meetings between the defense and witnesses, but have run into scheduling problems.

“It’s not a question of concealing, secreting or hiding,” Walmark said. “It’s just a question of getting people together.”

Gibson, whose client list is said to include celebrities and wealthy businessmen, is charged with 12 counts of pimping and pandering. She faces a minimum of three years in prison if convicted on any one of those counts, Scotti said.

Authorities are investigating the defendant’s claim, in a seven-page manuscript, that she had an affair with a Beverly Hills vice detective, which shielded her from earlier prosecution.