Actor Mel Gibson’s misdemeanor battery conviction stemming from a 2010 run-in with an ex-girlfriend was vacated and the case against him was dismissed this week, a court document released on May 16 shows.
That girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, allegedly owes almost $14,000 in legal fees, according to a Los Angeles law firm.
Gibson pleaded no contest in March 2011 to the charge stemming from a Jan. 6, 2010, run-in with Grigorieva, with whom he has a daughter, Lucia. He was sentenced to three years probation, a one-year counseling program and 16 hours of community service.
The actor and his attorney stressed during the March 2011 court hearing that Gibson was entering the plea to resolve the case, but he was not admitting guilt.
The case was formally dismissed in a one-page document signed May 12 by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Deborah S. Brazil.
Keith A. Fink and Associates claims in a Los Angeles bankruptcy court filing that the mother of Gibson’s youngest child struck a retainer agreement with the firm in 2012. Under the agreement, Fink says Grigorieva promised to pay the lawyers $450 to $650 an hour for their work.
Grigorieva filed for bankruptcy in February, according to the entertainment website RE-TOX.com, which first reported Fink’s filing.
The law firm claims it sent Grigorieva — a Russian pianist and singer-songwriter — invoices for months, but was never paid, despite promises she made to pay her bill.
In court papers, Fink contends that Grigorieva’s promises to pay were made “with malice, fraud and/or oppression, and reckless disregard” of the law firm’s rights.
Grigorieva had a roughly three-year relationship with Gibson, who shares custody of their 4-year-old daughter, Lucia.
Following their tumultuous split, Grigorieva alleged she was subjected to verbal and physical abuse at the hands of Gibson. He countered that she tried to extort millions of dollars from him with telephone recordings she made after their relationship ended in April 2010, at least one of which was posted online.
