Mel Gibson, Oksana Grigorieva Cases in DA's Hands; Decision Expected Soon

The Los Angeles District Attorney now has both the Mel Gibson domestic abuse case and the Oksana Grigorieva extortion case in his hands, and may decide soon whether or not Mel, his ex-girlfriend Oksana, or both, will face criminal charges in connection with last year's allegedly violent quarrel between the two, according to a RadarOnline.com report. The DA received reports on both cases from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department last week.

The RadarOnline.com news story indicates that Los Angeles DA Steven Cooley will "personally decide" whether or not Mel Gibson, Oksana Grigorieva, or both, will be charged, and will not delegate decision-making to any of his assistant DAs. " A final decision will be made in the next 7-10 days [around March 1, 2011]," the report further states. "It will be a simultaneous announcement on both cases, most likely."

Both criminal investigations, which were conducted by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, stem from an alleged confrontation between Mel and Oksana that occurred on January 6, 2010 at their Malibu estate. Oksana claims that on that date, Mel punched her in the face "more than once," breaking one of her teeth and a veneer in the process. Gibson and Grigorieva ended their relationship in April 2010 and signed a joint custody agreement for their baby daughter Lucia the following month.

Gibson admits slapping Oksana "once with an open hand," but denies that he punched her with his fist. In July 2010, the Sheriff's Department opened an investigation into her complaint. Soon after the probe began, reports came to light of the existence of multiple audio tapes of conversations between Oksana and Mel. Allegedly recorded by Oksana, the tapes reveal Mel as shouting obscenities, making violently racist statements, and hurling offensive remarks at his ex-girlfriend.

Gibson does not deny the existence of the recordings, but says that Oksana reneged on their previous child custody settlement in which she promised not to reveal the tapes, and threatened to make them public if Mel didn't give her $15 million. (The tapes ended up being leaked to RadarOnline.com, an Internet celebrity news site; Oksana denies making the leaks.) The Sheriff's Department later opened a separate investigation into Gibson's extortion claim against Grigorieva.

Since their break-up 10 months ago, Mel and Oksana have waged a non-stop, acrimonious, public war of words with each other in their bitter multimillion dollar custody battle over Lucia. Oksana continues accusing Mel of physically abusing her throughout their tempestuous relationship, even going so far as recently making an incendiary allegation that Gibson had "beat her during sex" in order to achieve arousal. Through his attorneys, Gibson continues to cast doubts on Oksana's credibility and fitness as a parent as he seeks to have sole custody of Lucia awarded to him.

Now both the Mel Gibson domestic abuse and the Oksana Grigorieva extortion investigations have been completed by the Los Angeles Sherriff's Department, and the findings have been forwarded to the District Attorney for review and a final decision. A recent news story indicates that " the amount of paperwork... is mind boggling," and that "the DA is going to do due diligence and review the material."

SOURCES: Embedded in article