Sealing of Accused Spielberg Stalker’s Case Is Part of Trend

Three times in recent months, the supervising judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court’s criminal division has taken the highly unusual step of sealing all documents in high-profile cases--the latest involving director Steven Spielberg.

Two months after the county grand jury indicted Jonathan F. Norman, 31, for allegedly stalking Spielberg, both the indictment papers and the transcripts of the grand jury proceedings remain under seal. Further, at the request of the district attorney’s office, Judge John Reid removed Spielberg’s name from the indictment after it was issued and replaced it with “John Doe,” a source said.

That rare action, according to a source close to the case, was not done at Spielberg’s request. A spokesman for the film director said he could not provide any information about the case.

The other cases involve the prosecutions of alleged serial killer Glen Rogers and the man accused of killing Ennis Cosby.

During a brief phone interview Monday, Reid declined to discuss the circumstances of the case or the reasons for sealing the proceedings. Reid said he could not recall whether the indictment was returned with the alleged victim’s name already changed to “John Doe.”

Likewise, Reid said he could not recall any specifics regarding the defendant. “If you asked me to describe him, I could tell you because of the name that it is a man. I can’t tell you whether he is white or black, tall or short,” Reid said, citing the large number of cases that come before him as supervising judge of the criminal courts.

Although Reid characterized the proceedings as “part of the normal routine of business” that occurs in the nation’s busiest judicial system, others familiar with the circumstances in the case described it as anything but routine.

For one thing, they noted, both the indictment specifying the charge against Norman and the grand jury transcripts remain sealed a month after the defendant’s arraignment and two months after his Oct. 10 indictment on a single count of stalking.

In addition, they said, it is almost unheard of for the victim in such cases to remain unidentified. That level of confidentiality, they said, is usually reserved for cases in which the victims are juveniles, are unaware of the threat against them or have been sexually assaulted.

The sealing orders on grand jury transcripts have been agreed to by both the district attorney’s and public defender’s offices.

“It’s extremely unusual to do any of this,” said Santa Monica defense attorney Charles English, whose clients have included Jack Nicholson, Alex Baldwin and Robert Downey Jr.

Without commenting on the merits of the actions to date, English said they do reflect part of a growing trend toward secrecy in what once were routine, though still sensitive, proceedings.

And in this particular case, he said: “It certainly gives rise to the notion Steven Spielberg is getting some special treatment by the system. Knowing [Judge] John Reid, I don’t think that is the case. But when the case finally becomes public, that is something that the courts and the D.A.’s office will have to answer. Why was the secrecy deemed necessary?”

Recently, Reid took the unusual step of sealing a county Civil Service Commission file after the district attorney’s office said its release could jeopardize a pending murder case. The commission file involves a claim by Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea D’Agostino that she was removed as prosecutor of alleged serial killer Rogers as a result of political retaliation because she encouraged City Atty. James K. Hahn to challenge Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti for election last year.

And in a case that remains veiled in an unusual level of confidentiality, Reid issued a sweeping sealing order on court documents in the prosecution of Mikail “Michael” Markhasev in the slaying of the son of entertainer Bill Cosby early this year. In that case, Reid also issued a gag order on all parties.

Reid did not issue a gag order on attorneys for the prosecution or defense in the new stalking case. But by ordering all the relevant documents sealed, the practical effect remains the same.

“Because there is a court order, we are precluded from talking at this time since everything in the case is sealed,” said district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

Norman appeared in court Monday before Judge Robert J. Perry, who continued the pretrial proceedings until Jan. 13.

Before his July arrest for alleged stalking, Norman was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon for a March 1995 assault on a group of Jewish immigrants in Santa Monica.

Norman, who pleaded no contest to the assault charge, was sentenced to three years in state prison and was released shortly before his arrest for allegedly stalking Spielberg, a Pacific Palisades resident.