This Script Isn’t New in Malibu

Even before Mel Gibson’s arrest on suspicion of drunk driving last month, the tony coastal hamlet of Malibu had a rich history of celebrities and their brushes with the law.

Before Gibson, there were arrests involving Nick Nolte, Robert Downey Jr., Gary Busey and rocker Tommy Lee. Then there was Britney Spears driving on Pacific Coast Highway with her baby in her lap, fleeing paparazzi staking out her local Starbucks.

And that doesn’t include times when celebrities have been victims of aggressive photographers, stalkers and others (as when Sean Penn hit one of several prowlers with a bottle of tofu salad dressing to defend himself and his then-wife, Madonna).

“There’s a misconception that we’re a town filled with celebrities and several have drug and alcohol problems,” said Malibu Mayor Ken Kearsley, a retired teacher who’s lived in the city 44 years. “Most people are working stiffs, not that celebrities aren’t working stiffs too.”

The dozens of paparazzi who regularly stake out Malibu’s restaurants, coffeehouses, dry cleaners and even supermarkets might disagree with the mayor’s description of his town.

But for every celebrity who makes the police blotter, there are many residents who don’t. The town is a true Hollywood colony, home to Spears and other young stars as well as entertainment veterans including Barbra Streisand, David Geffen and Cher.

Sheriff Department officials admit that patrolling an area of great wealth, which contains so many famous citizens, can be a challenge.

The Office of Independent Review, the oversight body for the department, is investigating whether authorities showed Gibson favoritism when he was arrested July 28. Sheriff’s officials initially said Gibson was arrested “without incident,” though it later came out that the star had tried to escape, hurled anti-Jewish slurs and threatened the arresting deputy.

“We deal with them like we do the rest of the public: treat them with dignity and enforce the law if they’re committing a crime,” said Sheriff’s Chief Neal Tyler, who oversees the Malibu-Lost Hills sheriff’s station. “It’s not necessarily as challenging and intimidating and exciting to deal with them as the public might think.”

Tyler declined to talk about specific cases, but he said his deputies’ encounters with Hollywood types are not very different from encounters with the general public: Some are cooperative; some can be angry or belligerent. He noted that celebrities and other wealthy people are more likely than the average person to have contacts with elected officials and high-ranking people in the department, though he said those connections don’t affect the way people are treated.

“Once you get to know them, they’re just regular people,” he said.

But are they treated like regular people? In the Gibson case, some have questioned the decision not to immediately handcuff the star and the later decision to drive him 10 miles from the Lost Hills station so he could retrieve his car.

Tyler said he sees nothing wrong with his deputies’ decision to give Gibson a ride to a tow yard after his release.

“It does happen in situations that are not involving celebrities.... In my career, I’ve been nicer to suspects than I’ve had to be,” he said.

Harland Braun, a criminal defense attorney who represented Busey, among others, said celebrity cases put all sides in a tough position.

“The problem is these cases are subjected to more scrutiny than the normal case, so anything that deviates from the harshest punishment is considered special treatment,” he said.

Deputies deal with stars as both victims and suspects. In 2004, the department arrested a man accused of stalking Gibson at his Malibu estate (the man was eventually convicted).

On the streets of Malibu, residents seemed to be more concerned about the way the paparazzi treat celebrities than about whether celebrities get special treatment from deputies.

Last year, a paparazzo was shot with a BB gun near a Malibu home where Britney Spears was having a baby shower.

At the time, some Malibu residents had little sympathy for the photographer, Brad Diaz. They said they were sick of paparazzi roaming through local shops, raising their cameras to anyone wearing a hat and sunglasses.

Diaz complained that the Sheriff’s Department wasn’t taking the case seriously, and some of his colleagues suggested the shot came from inside the party. (Sheriff Department’s officials said they handled the case properly, though no arrests have been made).

Some locals also say the fascination with Malibu and celebrity wrongdoing comes more from outsiders than from insiders. Malibu freelance writer Hans Laetz said the most interesting news in town is about the environment and coastal protection.

“It’s a great news town. Not the celebrity and police stuff. There are huge environmental issues,” he said.

Laetz said some take the celebrity presence for granted. Once, he was at a Malibu High School football game and turned to a friend to say: “ ‘It’s amazing. I never see celebrities in Malibu.’ He nudged me. Mel Gibson was sitting in the seat behind me.”

Like most criminal cases in Malibu, Gibson’s will wind up in the Malibu courthouse before Superior Court Judge Lawrence J. Mira, who has presided over cases involving Downey Jr., Nolte, Busey and Charlie Sheen.

It was Mira who scolded Downey during his numerous problems with drugs a few years ago. “Is there any question that if this defendant continues to use drugs, we’re going to be reading his name in an obituary?” Mira asked. “We tried rehabilitation, and it simply hasn’t worked.”

It was Mira who in 1999 finally allowed rocker Lee to begin performing again in venues that sold alcohol.

Mira is a former singer, record producer and agent. He’s also a former defendant. (He pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol in 1992 after his car crashed and rolled over in Agoura Hills.)

Gibson was charged with two misdemeanor counts of drunk driving. Legal experts said he would probably be able to plead no contest without going to court or serving jail time.

When Mira concludes the case, the mayor hopes, the incident will fade away.

“Nobody wins in this,” Kearsley said.

“Malibu again becomes the central focus.... Mel Gibson himself and his family, we pray for them. We hope that things get better. It is really sad, particularly for his children and family.”