Mel Gibson

Los Angeles DA Steve Cooley doesn’t consider extortion a crime when other attorneys do it. Its “hardball legal negotiations.” Only people outside the profession mistake it for a crime. “Lawyering is a tough business,” he says. So, if I secretly record my neighbor skinny-dipping with his girlfriend then threaten to show the video to his wife unless he pays me $ 20 million (because I know the damages his wife could bring are far greater) ..I’m simply practicing tough ‘neighborly negotiations’..? As long as I don’t make the threat ‘explicit’, according to Cooley. In other words I cannot be charged for an ‘implied threat’. Better make sure I say something like “Hey George, love the rack on your skinny-dipping partner. Oh and by the way ..can you help me finance the purchase of that mountaintop retreat I’ve had my eye on.” I should avoid saying “Hey George, if you pay me $ 20 million I won’t show this video to your wife.” Funny, in my profession ..context and prior information can quickly add up to turn an implied statement into an explicit one [link]. Like if you were to find out I secured financing from a previous neighbor the same way. However, that’s inadmissible according to legal guidelines. So here’s my point. Mel Gibson’s estranged girlfriend secretly recorded him making vulgar and racist remarks during a party they hosted at his home. Similar comments had definitely hurt his career once before. The recordings came up during a recent custody battle where her attorneys suggested they would like to resolve the couple’s differences ‘quickly and quietly’ if he would agree to “..care for his ex and their daughter in a more generous way.” Instead of $12 million they wanted $20 million. According to Cooley that’s not an attempt at extortion by attorneys. Doesn’t matter if the ex-girlfriend had secured a stream of income from a prior relationship with actor Timothy Dalton in a similar manner. Now I’m no big Mel Gibson fan ..but I do know that threatening someone with character assassination for financial gain is illegal. I’ve seen it on TV and looked it up on the Internet. There may be a fine line between extortion and ‘aggressive negotiations’ in the legal profession, but they’d definitely haul my ass to jail for dealing with my neighbors that way.