Any Mel Gibson prosecution awaits completion of extortion probe
A decision about whether to prosecute Mel Gibson over allegations of domestic violence is unlikely to be made until authorities finish their probe of an alleged extortion plot targeting the actor.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has completed an investigation into whether the actor hit ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva and turned over its findings to county prosecutors several weeks ago.
Sources have told The Times that prosecutors are reviewing that case but are unlikely to move forward until the Sheriff’s Department has finished its investigation into claims that Grigorieva or someone close to her was attempting to extort money from Gibson.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing, said the cases are heavily intertwined.
No suspect has been formally named in the extortion case, but detectives have interviewed people involved in the couple’s messy separation. Officials said they plan to interview two lawyers who represented Grigorieva, but sources said they are not suspects.
Sheriff’s investigators are still several weeks away from presenting any extortion case to prosecutors, according to department spokesman Steve Whitmore.
Allegations that Gibson hit Grigorieva surfaced several months ago, when audiotapes of an angry, belligerent Gibson were made public. The tapes, which were of phone calls between the pair, are not expected to be used as evidence in the case.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
