Tom Hanks was summoned for jury duty this week and actually served, but his presence ended up causing controversy and ending a domestic violence trial.
The Oscar winner spent Tuesday on jury duty, hearing the case of a man accused of striking his girlfriend. But soon things took an unexpected turn.
Officials at the L.A. City Attorney’s Office offered the defendant a plea bargain after that learning a female member of the team approached the movie star.
The suspect was allowed to walk free on Wednesday after pleading no contest to the minor offense of disturbing the peace and paying a $ 150 fine.
Defense lawyer Andrew Flier said “The assigned prosecutor on the case gave notice to the court and myself" of the alleged misconduct, as required.
Flier admitted "that he either saw or was told that one of his colleagues had had contact with Mr. Hanks in the same unit, the City Attorney’s Office."
The prosecutor in question later confirmed the inappropriate contact.
“In a brief evidentiary hearing this morning, she said that around noon time, either yesterday or the day before, she made contact with Mr. Hanks in the stairwell."
"She came up to him and said that she thanked him and that how impressed everyone is that such a celebrity would still be here serving jury duty."
"So she... was maybe a little star struck and nice," the defense attorney admitted, but it was still potential jury tampering. "It should never have happened.â€
The Hollywood Gossip