I honestly didn’t expect this – according to Radar, Mel Gibson is now being formally investigated by the LA County Sheriff’s Dept for domestic abuse against Oksana. Call me Sugartits, but I thought this all would just be a civil matter, as in Oksana and her lawyers were angling for a cash settlement as part of their custodial arrangement. But now it’s gone criminal. If Oksana didn’t report the abuse at the time, the Sheriff’s Dept. might have a harder time proving the case, even with photo evidence and Mel’s on-tape confession to the abuse. Speaking of, I think Oksana’s taping of Mel is also a crime, right? Wiretapping, etc? But, back to the domestic abuse – will Mel actually go to jail?
After RadarOnline.com revealed Mel Gibson told his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva she “f**cking deserved” to get hit, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has launched a domestic violence investigation.
In the new tape recording, a teary Grigorieva can be heard asking the 54-year-old actor what he thinks he is doing hitting her while she is holding their eight-month-old child Lucia.
The allegations stem from a January incident at the actor’s Malibu mansion.
“What kind of man is that who would hit a woman while she is holding a child in her hands, hitting her twice in the face?” questions the Russian musician.
The Braveheart star answers: “You know what — you f***ing deserved it.”
Now the Sheriff’s Dept. has confirmed its investigators are “currently gathering information regarding the allegations.”
[From Radar]
Now, maybe I watch too much Law & Order: SVU, but if Mel was calling up Oksana and threatening her over the phone, that goes hand-in-hand with domestic abuse. He not only physically beat her, he then stalked, harassed and threatened her for God knows how long. Basically, if Oksana turns her sh-t over to the police and really goes after Mel, I do think a strong case could be made that he should go to jail. We’ll see.
Throw this misogynistic piece of trash in, and throw away the key.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
He is a misogynistic, racist drunk who needs to STFU and retire.
If all that is true, he probably BELONGS in jail, but I don’t know how they’ll prosecute him for something that went unreported and there’s no actual evidence of, aside from the tapes.
His career will NEVER recover from this, nor should it. He should take his money, buy a private island, and disappear forever.
I thought Cali was broke, so why waste more of the tax’s payers money when we all know nothing will come of this “investigation”.
She could have him beating her up on DVD and still nothing, no charges, no jail time, just a fine to be paid like his DUI that he paid off his record.
GOOD! It’s about time this situation was handled in the proper way. If Mel did the crime he’ll do the time. If not, Oksana can be charged with blackmail/extortion.
Mel Gibson’s inner demons are playing havoc on that increasingly ugly mug of his.
Karmic justice.
I’d love to see him thrown into general population and see how long he survives but you can bet your bottom dollar he’ll never do a day in jail.
I’m suspicious of Oksana’s actions, and I question what is not on the tapes … the parts of this story that are missing. Meanwhile, Mel is getting what he deserves for being an @ss and everythin’ else.
Too bad more people like Mel aren’t caught on tape like this. There are plenty out there who are charming to the outside world but horrible to their families and sometimes business associates also. Male and female.
I remember a long time ago reading a Susan Sarandon quote about Mel. It was in one of those famous quote books. She basically said that he was one of the most attractive people on the outside that she had ever seen. But his insides were the ugliest she had ever seen. The book was published in the early 90s.
In New Zealand it is perfectly legal to tape or record someone without their knowledge…only one person involved must be aware of the action…and that ostensibly in this case would be Oksana (this differs from third party taping where all parties on tape have no idea its going on).
I do not understand all the ‘outrage’ about the taping of Mel Gibson by Oksana. Here is a man who was allegedly threatening his partner with death, beating, belittling, and harassing her. And she’s an evil b**** for ‘setting him up’ on tape??? (referring to other comments in previous threads). You had better believe if that was me in that situation I’d be doing the same thing. The reaction of many people on CB and the public in general when this first came out was what she would have been worried about had she not taken steps to record proof. That people would have blown her off, called her all sorts of names and said “well if this was happening why didn’t she get PROOF???” and that someone who is very possibly a misogynist, sexist and racist abuser would get away with it.
All circumstances being true? I completely support what Oksana has done. What he has done is unconscionable and hopefully it will be a case of Mr Gibson getting what he ‘deserves’
I don’t know how it works now, but when I was being abused the cops wouldn’t do anything until I had a “most recent incident”, for lack of a better term. I’d been abused (verbally & physically) for years, but since I didn’t have a “timely” (I guess?) incident (nor did I possess sophisticated recording equipment – he-he), nothing happened. I had to wait until he nearly choked me to death mere feet from our infant’s crib, then threatened to kill me or have me killed and take the baby, to get a restraining order.
Go figure. And yes, I live in CA – have all my life.
Isn’t domestic violence a crime against the state? That’s why CA is getting involved – it doesn’t matter whether Oksana lodged a complaint or obtained the evidence illegally. They still need to investigate it.
I looked it up when this first broke and people started talking about “wiretapping”. There is an exception in California law to allow people to tape record conversations without the other person’s knowledge if they are being threatened. Oksana did nothing wrong by tape-recording him.
California may also be a state that has a more enlightened law on domestic violence, whereby they must investigate all apparent cases with or without the victim’s cooperation.
I believe Crash is right on the money. In most states, the victim doesn’t have to press charges in order for there to be an investigation or prosection of domestic violence charges. I would think they’d be able to subpeona her medical records etc for evidence. I don’t know about the recordings. In TN as long as one person has knowledge of the recording it’s admissable.
I hope they throw the book at him. Seems the least they could do, but something tells me he will never see the inside of a jail cell or even a courtroom. We’ll see, I guess.
@bellaluna that’s sick they made you go through that again.
They should send an all female crew with
varied ethnic backgrounds to investigate him.
Another Oksana-Mel rumor floated by Radar. This one has some credibility. By law, police are required to make an arrest if there is evidence of domestic abuse, even if the victim refuses to make a statement or press charges. Given the continuous stream of publicity Oksana has generated through her friends at Radar, it’s hardly surprising that the DA finally decided to step in. Good on them.
We’ll see if she wants money or justice. She would have to cooperate for them to do anything and even then it must be more then a “he said/she said” situation.
Mel deserves prosecution definitely. Makes you wonder what his wife & children endured all those years.
1) A private citizen can record a conversation he/she has with someone else without the other persons knowledge. The wiretapping issue is when police record conversations and no one participating is aware of the recording; for this they need a warrant, which requires probable cause.
2) By moving this issue from civil to criminal, you realize what Oksana has done, don’t you? In civil court she was restrained from releasing the tapes and possible bound by a confidentiality agreement. Criminal proceedings will excuse her from these restrictions and make the tapes part of the record.
I agree Jeri, I’d suspect his ex-wife and children are not strangers to this type of behavior. I bet he’s gotten worse as his life has fallen apart (his own doing) but that sort of abuse doesn’t just magically appear.
I am still suspicious of Oskana, I do think she is a gold digger and he was a big target, but I think he turned out to be worse than she expected (obviously). Regardless, she doesn’t deserve to be abused, and if it’s true, he shouldn’t be able to get away with it. But I still think it would be very hard to prosecute.
I hope his ass gets thrown in jail.
DrM: I’m with you completely.
I think if he beat her then he would have paid her off not to talk about it. It’s not like he doesn’t have the money. Something just doesn’t seem right.
If he did beat her, then he needs to pay for it.
Actually, victims of domestic abuse no longer have to cooperate with law enforcement – since too many of us battered women ended up dead (or wishing we were), the laws on the books changed. Law enforcement is now able to investigate/prosecute domestic abusers, whether the victims want it done or not.
@ Shawna – Can you believe? It used to be a TRUE example of he said/she said, and it was horrible. Thank God I finally got away. It wasn’t easy, but I finally did it. And lived to tell about it. I’m one of the luckiest ones!
How long has he been like this? Always and just kept it hidden ridiculously well?
“Many a man’s reputation would not know his character if they met on the street”
bellaluna As unfortunate as it is that you had to experience that, you’re an awesome example for other women to be brave, get out, and go on to live better lives. Glad you’re well. I wish an old friend of mine did the same.
Mel will not be seeing the inside of a jail. Celebrities hardly ever do the time for their crimes, R.Kelly anyone?
He will however be paying out of the ying yang for this.
Our sources say Gibson has emails and other evidence Oksana “tried to extract money from Mel in return for the [explosive] tapes.”
I just read the above sentence on TMZ, which says investigators in the abuse case are concerned about Oksana’s “M.O.” and a possible extortion attempt. Keep in mind that TMZ’s Harvey Levin and the Malibu police department (especially “Sugart*ts”) are not exactly big Mel fans, so this is something major!
To be continued…
@bellaluna:
What horrible garbage that happened to you. The lines have been drawn in the sand and details will come out. The first concern is making sure that everybody is safe, so even if one considers the claims to be dubious (here, or in any other case), there is more to be lost in not taking real cases seriously than there is in being duped by a lie.
I remember being vaguely aware of a woman who lived across the street with her toddler-aged baby in the mid-90s She got the same treatment as did you when tried going to the authorities. After the fact, I learned that she had run away from her abusive husband and had taken refuge with her mother across that street. She was recent immigrant, so her English was still kind of shaky, giving her limited employment options while she studied.
Her husband tracked her down to the apartment, and immediately the cops were called. They were not able to get to her time to save her from being stabbed to death in front of her mother and son.
She DID leave her abuser, she WAS working on taking her life back, she DID have a loving support system. She did everything in her power to save her family, and still she was brutalized for it.
People are not supposed to live like this.
Now he is someone who deserves to do some jail time, he can take Charlie Sheen etc with him.
1. The cops are investigating and SHOULD investigate this because of the news coverage.
2. If Mel is guilty of domestic violence, he should be held accountable by a fair trial, not via questionable tabloid leaks.
3. Oksana will not testify against Mel in court unless she gets immunity from wiretapping and extortion charges.
4. If Oksana is guilty of an extortion attempt against Mel, which TMZ’s police sources are concerned about, Oksana should be held accountable by a fair trial.
5. If the evidence is too murky and the tapes are inadmissable as evidence, prosecutors will decline to press charges.
Good, this is a chance for him to clear his name. Let’s all see what happens.
I gotta say though people; OJ slaughters his ex wife and her boyfriend, in front of her home and does no time. Not guilty.
Mel is “accused” of hitting his ex paid prostitute, who won’t allow him access to his child, but is happy to scab all the comforts she has thanks to him and you want to hang him, no evidence, no words from his side, but that’s ok?
What a screwed up view of justice some people have. As they say, only in america!
@bellaluna…I’m so sorry you had to go through that.
@TQB…My reading of the California law is that secret tapings are not admissible as evidence in either civil or criminal trials. The only exception is when the person who made the secret taping is being prosecuted.
@Harper..The quote from Sarandon was “beautiful, but only on the outside.” This comment wasn’t appreciated by Robyn Gibson and her daughter because they didn’t clap at the Oscars when Sarandon won best actress. Years later though she acted in a film that Mel produced. Ah, showbiz.
Rape and Domestic Violence are crimes against the state so its not upto her. Which is why the Polanski accuser is not able to get rid of that case following her cash settlement.
Most states have wiretapping exemptions. Some states only 1 person has to know, some states its a threat of violence. It really depends. Its not as cut and dry as Hollywood makes it out to be.
Years ago there was a case where a woman sued the police department because her husband beat the crap out of her and they did nothing to protect her in 1984, she repeatedly called the police on his abuse but they kept letting him go, this was at the time when the law considered it a family problem and did nothing to help battered women.
http://www.randijames.com/2008/08/fourteenth-amendment-tracy-thurman.html
Friday
Fourteenth Amendment – Tracy Thurman Story
by Nancy R. Koerner – Naples, FL
Copyright © 2008 – All Rights Reserved
Our struggle is not only with the abuser, but with the legal system that is supposed to be serving to protect our rights as victims. It’s bad enough that DV has yet to be criminalized and batterers are rarely held accountable for their actions, but the court systems likewise do not choose to hold the police accountable for their failure to protect battered women. Doesn’t it seem strange that protection against domestic violence is not considered a violation of our constitution rights?
There was one very high-profile exception to this seeming legal ambivalence. In 1984, a young woman named Tracy Thurman successfully sued the city of Torrington, CT, and two dozen of their police officers for their failure to arrest her estranged and exceedingly violent husband, Charles “Buck” Thurman. There had been repeated incidents of assault on Tracy and overt threats made on her life, yet the police consistently disregarded the situation as a domestic quarrel undeserving of any serious consideration.
On June 10th, 1983, Charles assaulted Tracy for the last time. He stabbed her thirteen times in the chest, neck, shoulders, and face – ten minutes AFTER she had called the police. He kicked her in the head with a booted foot, snatched up their two-year-old, told the child, “I’ve killed your rotten mother,” and left her lying in a pool of blood. It took twenty-five minutes for the police to arrive. Astonishingly, Tracy did not die, but the damage was inconceivable. She spent seven months in the hospital. Although the left side of her body was able to function, she had no tactile sensation. The right side of her body was able to feel, but she had lost 80% of her motor skills.
As a result, Tracy Thurman declared that her constitutional rights had been violated in accordance with the Fourteenth Amendment, which was originally intended to secure the rights of slaves, but also includes the phrase, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Tracy further alleged that the policy of not arresting violent and abusive husbands failed to provide the same protection that was afforded to victims of similar assaults outside a domestic relationship. It was a landmark case, and the courts ruled that officers failing to protect the rights of battered women would be held accountable. It is of further interest to note that after Tracy’s settlement for 2.3 million dollars, and the more comprehensive DV law that resulted, the number of reported domestic violence assaults in Connecticut increased by 92% over the next year. Not that it would help Tracy. She was only twenty-two years old.
@Uzi
As I said earlier, Oksana opened a mighty nasty can of “whoop ass” when she decided to do a “hatchet job” on Mel Gibson in the first place. I’m quite sure that both he and his wife have been thoroughly investigating her at least since last summer. Who knows, Mel and company may have recorded some very incriminating conversations, too? If so, this may explain why Oksana never formally pressed any charges to begin with. Accepting bribes not to do so, does not make her a victim. Furthermore, the results of a formal criminal investigation would have a direct impact upon her ability to successfully launch a civil lawsuit against him and any rulings related to her child custody status.
My guess is nothing will happen to him. Slap on the wrist.
@Bellaluna, you truly are one of the luckiest ones…I’m glad you had the strength and courage to get yourself and your child free and be able to share your story.
I don’t think it matters one bit whether Oksana is or is not a “gold digger”.
She deserves the same level of compassion for having incredibly low self esteem and self worth to get involved with this sad, small man.
Lets say that she is and that she did intend to use him for fame and money.. she got way more than she bargained for I would bet.
He was already sliding down the drain and rapidly being exposed for the hate filled phony that he is.
It seems to me that she got a good chunk of her Karma with his abuse and I believe that he will get his chunk x 100.
He’s been let off the hook ever so slightly for the last few incidents and whether he goes to jail or not, I don’t think he will recover in the public eye from this incident.
I’m also not sure he will recover in his dark inner world from this as he would have to have the capacity to question all his deepest beliefs and lies and I’m not sure he has it in him.
@Bellaluna, you truly are one of the luckiest ones…I’m glad you had the strength and courage to get yourself and your child free.
I don’t think it matters one bit whether Oksana is or is not a “gold digger”.
Lets say that she is and that she did intend to use him for fame and money..
it says that she has her own issues with self worth and esteem and got way more than she bargained for with his abuse.
He’s been let off the hook ever so slightly for the last few incidents.
I don’t think the public will let this one go and I actually feel compassion for him and his dark and hate filled inner world. I don’t think he will be able to do the soul searching and questioning of his values and beliefs and actions to heal in any real way.
Like a disease that has already taken hold, he may be too far from his internal light to find his way back…
To Harper…I remember reading about that Susan Sarandon quote too. Seems she was right
Uzi Totally agree with you
So many so called story’s from Oksana’s side released from Radoronline, her so called violence story’s against her keep changing daily7
I’m sure Mel’s lawyers have plenty of hard core evidence against her and it will eventually come out. NOT LEAKED like Oskana’s.
She has broken the law and leaked the tapes to try and get an advantage over Mel Knowing full well thee is a number of people who do not like him.
Remember her very sketchy past It WILL COME back and haunt her just wait and see.
The number of times her story’s and changed and she just can’t keep her mouth shut. Keeps leaking story’s to Radoronline through her close friends. If she had those tapes who else would leak them but her?
Something does not sit right with her on the tape as well sounds as though it’s been rehearsed. She has tried something like this before with Dalton when he booted her out of his house as well, This was reported in the Russian Media, And I find it rather amusing How said in a earlier post about 95% Russian readers going on Mels Side and don’t believe her.
As I said yesterday every day Radoronline daily keep leaking unsubstantiated story’s on Mel Gibson, As you said Uzi for the investigators who dealt with Mel 5 years ago to have doubts over Oksana’s motives, agree Blackmail and extortion, plain and simple
Debbie
“Speaking of, I think Oksana’s taping of Mel is also a crime, right? Wiretapping, etc”
No, it’s only wire-tapping if you’re not one of the people having the conversation. If the person knows they are speaking to you, it’s perfectly acceptable to use recordings as evidence.
He’s EFFED.
If he is leaving threatening messages for her that is crime and would not be considered wiretapping. Also Oksana does not have to coroporate in order for LA to press charges against him in domestic violence cases. Here in NY we had the case of a state senator who attacked his girlfriend she refused to testify but there was enough evidence to convict him without her testimony.
Put it this way- I’m surprised he’s got children. My experience of his kind is that they spurt soapy water, not chap juice.
A private citizen can record a conversation he/she has with someone else without the other persons knowledge. The wiretapping issue is when police record conversations and no one participating is aware of the recording; for this they need a warrant, which requires probable cause
****************************************
This is not true. Right now, there is a local guy sitting in jail for illegally wiretapping a neighbor. He was trying to prove illegal activity and taped the neighbor, took the tape to the police and was arrested, tried, charged and convicted of illegal wiretapping.
Phone messages are not the same thing because the person leaving the message knows it is being taped.
I hope he goes to jail for domestic violence and she goes for illegal wiretapping and extortion. It sickens me how she is trying to capitalize and extort money from this situation. Put the baby in the system. She’s better off away from her abusive dad and gold digging whore of a mother.
Mel Gibson fell into a trap and the lid is coming down…lured by the young Russian beauty who managed to break up his marriage, family, get pregnant, dump his sorry ass, and get all his money in short order. He may be many things…but it all looks a bit too calculated on the part of the Russian bombshell. Sorry, but the whole accusation of abuse also seems trumped up even if he can be a bit of an ass…I somehow think that he was enraged to know hom much he got duped…if he was violent or said you deserved it and it was wiretapped…that may have also been saying “you deserved it…” could have been you were locked out, you deserved to be kicked out of the house..” who knows how a tape can be manipulated. She is just plain bad news.
@Laurie
The ongoing criminal investigation just may prove exactly what you are saying. It’s never a good idea to jump to conclusions until every shred of evidence has been exposed and thoroughly examined. Too many innocent people have been “railroaded” and “lynched” based simply upon “unsubstantiated innuendo”.