Judge to evaluate accused stalker

In the places Emily Leatherman has frequented since arriving in Los Angeles several years ago -- the reception area of the William Morris Agency, the gates of Malibu’s beachfront homes, the courthouse and the jail -- this accusation defines her: John Cusack’s stalker.

But in the Oregon home where she was raised, she is a cherished only daughter whose psychological troubles are a constant source of heartbreak.

“Emily has a family that loves her very much,” said her mother, Cheryl. “This has been very difficult.”

Leatherman, 33, was arrested in April after an encounter with Cusack in his Malibu driveway. The actor had a restraining order against her based on what his representatives said were hundreds of disturbing and in some cases threatening letters and packages Leatherman sent over a period of years, as well as her unwelcome visits to the actor’s home and his agent’s office.

She is due in court this morning, where a judge is expected to decide whether she is mentally competent to stand trial on a felony stalking charge and other counts. She faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison if convicted.

Her mother, a nurse, and father Dale, an optician from the small town of Dundee, Ore., declined to discuss details of their daughter’s mental health, but said they were concerned that her condition might worsen if she is sent to prison.

In an e-mail response to questions, the Leathermans said they were sorry that their daughter’s behavior “may have caused undue stress, pain or upset,” but added, “her actions were those of a troubled individual, and though they have been misguided, they were not with malice.”

They said her two younger brothers have been hurt by tabloid and Internet coverage mocking their sister. One gossip site listed Leatherman and others accused of stalking celebrities in an online poll, asking readers to vote for “the biggest kook.” Another suggested that Leatherman stand outside Cusack’s home with a boombox -- a reference to his 1989 movie “Say Anything.”

“The lack of compassion and understanding for someone like Emily is stunning,” her parents wrote.

They said their daughter was a bright, musically gifted teenager who enjoyed singing Beatles songs with her father and attending a David Bowie concert with her mother. They described her as “beautiful on the inside and the out,” and said she traveled to Mexico City with her church group at age 14 to work with children living in slums.

“The children loved it and Emily was deeply touched by the experience,” they wrote.

The Leathermans have not visited their daughter in jail. They say her large extended family in Oregon could have offered support and guidance if she had stayed nearby, but she has essentially been on her own in Southern California.

“We have tried from here, but it is extremely difficult to do long distance,” they wrote.

Leatherman is now in custody on $550,000 bail, but prior to her arrest, she rarely had a fixed address. She has lived on the streets or crashed on couches, according to authorities.

A security consultant hired by Cusack had difficulty locating Leatherman to serve her with the restraining order in 2006. Ultimately, he found her living in a car.

Authorities say she does not appear to have been employed. Much of her time in Los Angeles was apparently spent tracking down Cusack or Tom Cruise or dealing with the consequences of trying to contact them.

She was arrested in 2005 outside Cruise’s Beverly Hills mansion and charged with misrepresenting herself to police. Cruise subsequently obtained a restraining order against her. In 2007, she was arrested again outside Cruise’s residence for violating the court order. In both cases, judges expressed doubt about Leatherman’s mental competency, but she was eventually deemed fit to stand trial. In both instances, she was sentenced to time she had already spent in jail awaiting trial and placed on probation.

Court documents indicate that Leatherman was focused most intently on Cusack. Bill Mancini, Cusack’s security consultant, said Leatherman began sending the actor letters and packages in November 2005. Some were left on his doorstep, he said.

“The letters basically demand compensation or a gift of property and/or marriage or promise of love . . . from John Cusack,” Mancini said at an April court hearing.

Of the 200 missives, some contained rocks, some screwdrivers and some veiled threats.

If Cusack refused to marry her, she wrote in one, “there will be dances with vampires.”

A sheriff’s deputy who interviewed Cusack after he found Leatherman near his property in April said the actor was very upset and expressed fear “about what this lady can do.”

“He mentioned many times that he believed that this woman needs help -- professional help,” the officer wrote in a report.

In court, where she is acting as her own attorney, Leatherman is often poised and articulate.

“I remind you, you’re still under oath,” she chided one witness at an April hearing.

She scored enough points during cross-examination of a police officer that a judge told her she had done a “nice job.”

But at other times, she made disjointed statements that seemed hard to believe. A constant refrain in the letters to Cusack and in Leatherman’s statements in court is her desire that Cusack help expose a sex-trafficking ring of celebrities and police officers who she says had abducted and raped her. Court papers she filed outlining these allegations led Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Susan M. Speer to order Leatherman’s latest mental evaluation.

Her mother contrasted the police escort Britney Spears received in January to get psychiatric treatment with her daughter’s experience.

“Unfortunately, she’s not Britney,” she said.

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harriet.ryan@latimes.com