Mel Gibson Unlikely to Testify in Discrimination Trial

A Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge signaled that she will likely not allow the testimony of Mel Gibson and Sheriff Lee Baca at the discrimination trial of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy.

The deputy from the Malibu/Lost Hills Station arrested Gibson for a  DUI in 2006 and will take his harassment case against the department before a jury.

Deputy James Mee, 56, claims that after the 2006 arrest of Gibson, supervisors at the Malibu/Lost Hills Station attempted to cover up for Gibson by declaring that he was arrested “without incident.”

According to Mee,  who is Jewish,  he was ordered to remove four pages from his police report which detailed Gibson’s numerous anti-Semitic slurs.

The four-pages were subsequently obtained and published by TMZ.

Mee alleges he was the target of a four-year inconclusive criminal investigation by the department into the leak that included search warrants, transfers, being passed-over for promotion, and other forms of harassment.

Mee’s attorney, Etan Z Lorant said that Mee wants his reputation with the department to be restored and hopes the lawsuit will resolve that. He is also seeking unspecified damages for loss of income, medical expenses, emotional distress, and mental suffering.

County attorneys have denied that Mee suffered discrimination.

Judge Barbara Scheper said she does not believe the testimony of Gibson or Baca would be relevant Mee’s case.  She also ruled that Mee’s attorneys cannot show the jury a public service announcement Gibson made for the Sheriff’s Department in 2003.

The trial is scheduled to begin on February 14, 2012.