Actor Acquitted of All Charges

A jury acquitted movie actor C. Thomas Howell on all five misdemeanor counts Tuesday, saying no crime had been committed during his December confrontation with a skateboarder in Reseda.

If convicted, Howell, 34, of Newhall, could have been sentenced to more than four years in County Jail. The charges included hit-and-run, making a terrorist threat and brandishing a weapon.

Deputy City Atty. Brian Michaels said Howell hit a 20-year-old skateboarder with his pickup truck on Dec. 9, fled the scene, then returned with a hammer and threatened to strike him.

Throughout the five-day Superior Court trial, Howell maintained his innocence, saying that if he were a gardener, the skateboarder would not have called police. He said that he did not hit Shawn C. Burgess with his truck but that they did exchange angry words.

The Van Nuys jury deliberated about six hours.

“If he would have been a noncelebrity, I don’t think the charges would have been filed,” juror Eddie McClain said afterward. Other jurors said Howell’s celebrity status was not a consideration in their deliberations.

Jury forewoman Jill Ford said that the prosecution witnesses gave conflicting accounts and that Howell and Burgess appeared guilty of “mutual provocation.”

She said defense attorney Sam Birenbaum left jurors with a parting thought that helped them reach a verdict.

In his closing argument, Birenbaum had said, “Just because someone calls the police first doesn’t mean they are the victim.”

Outside the courtroom, Howell, unshaven and wearing baggy blue jeans and a white shirt, shook hands with jurors and thanked them.

The actor, who played Pony Boy Curtis in “The Outsiders” and Tyler in “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” said he went into court a skeptic, having turned down a plea bargain for the chance to tell his side of the story.

“It’s really incredible to be a part of the system and risk four years in jail to be heard,” he said.