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Saga of Omar Sharif and the valet he struck winds toward a conclusion
Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times
Omar Sharif allegedly punched a valet for refusing to take a 20-euro note. A restitution hearing is set for today in the criminal battery case. But the Egyptian actor has no intention of paying a $445,000 civil judgment in the 2005 Beverly Hills incident.
By Harriet Ryan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 9, 2008
Omar Sharif became a film idol playing men who went to war, from a sheik who took on the Turks in "Lawrence of Arabia" to the sensitive battlefield surgeon in "Doctor Zhivago."
But it's Sharif's decision to step away from a fight that might make him an inspiration in Hollywood's legal circles.
Earlier this year, the 76-year-old actor stopped defending himself against a civil suit by a valet he struck in the face outside a tony Beverly Hills steakhouse in 2005. Sharif, who had spent two years and tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees attempting to settle the case, concluded that he was, in the words of one of his lawyers, "being shaken down" based on his celebrity.
Others may have gritted their teeth and written a check. Sharif refused. He let his attorneys go and said he was representing himself. Then he did nothing. He wrote no motions and attended no depositions. He skipped the trial.
The result was a default judgment, including a bill for the plaintiff's legal fees, of $445,000. A lopsided outcome, but perhaps not a satisfying one for the winner.
Sharif has no intention of paying a dime.
"His position is that the judgment is never going to be collected," said his former lawyer, Martin D. Singer.
An Egyptian citizen, Sharif has no assets in the United States and nothing to lose by flouting the judgment, former and current attorneys for Sharif say. The unpaid civil award won't prevent him from traveling to the U.S. or working in films in Egypt and Europe, as he often has in recent years.
For the valet, Juan Ochoa Anderson, possible remedies are costly and time-consuming. The 50-year-old father who still works as a valet at Mastro's Steakhouse can pursue Sharif's assets in Egypt. But that would require a new trial there, complete with the mandatory translation of thousands of pages of case documents into Arabic.
Neither Anderson, nor his lawyer, John C. Carpenter, responded to requests for comment. According to court documents, Carpenter's firm has already poured $127,000 into the case on behalf of Anderson, a Guatemalan immigrant who at the time of the suit earned $6.75 an hour plus tips.
Sharif declined to comment. In criminal court, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to two years' probation and anger management classes. It was not his first brush with the law. In 2003, he was fined $1,700 and given a one-month suspended sentence for head-butting a French police officer.
His criminal attorney says Sharif was initially remorseful and concerned about Anderson.
"He was drinking that night. It was a misunderstanding. He said, 'I would like to apologize to the man and if there's any cost to him, I'd like to pay for it,' " said lawyer Harland Braun. "He didn't realize it was Hollywood, and everyone tries to make a fortune off celebrities."
As the months turned into years and the $325-an-hour legal bills mounted, Sharif became convinced that the valet wanted a payout that reflected Sharif's fame, not real injuries.
Singer, Sharif's lawyer in the civil negotiations, said that the actor was willing to pay "thousands" but that Anderson's lawyer demanded "over a half-million dollars."
"We were prepared to pay an amount of money that would have been the most ever for a slap in the face," Singer said.
Ironically, what sparked the incident was a dispute over Sharif's money -- specifically a 20-euro note. On June 12, 2005, Sharif gave Anderson the bill as he climbed into the passenger's side of a Porsche sport utility vehicle outside the restaurant.
Anderson, who does not speak English well, gave the bill a quizzical look and handed it back to Sharif. According to the valet, the actor became enraged and punched him in the nose.
In a statement to police, Anderson said Sharif called him "stupid" and said there were other insults he could not recall. An officer reported that Anderson "refused medical treatment and we observed no visible injuries at the time of our interview."
But Anderson told police he wanted to press charges.
When Beverly Hills police contacted Anderson 10 days later, he had retained an attorney. According to a police report, an officer told him that Sharif "has offered to apologize to Mr. Anderson and compensate him for any damages."
Anderson said he would wait to hear from Sharif.
It is unclear whether that call ever came. Six months later, Anderson sued Sharif for assault and battery, civil rights violations, commission of a hate crime, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence. The complaint alleged that Sharif committed "illegal and grotesque acts of racial violence."
"Over and over again, Mr. Sharif called Mr. Anderson a 'stupid Mexican,' " Carpenter, the valet's lawyer, alleged in court documents.
He said Anderson was suffering from "serious injuries," which were outlined in subsequent court papers as neck, back and head pain, difficulty breathing, a nasal fracture and a deviated septum.
The proceeding became contentious. Sharif was outraged by the racial allegations, which he said were false and an insult to his multicultural background. Anderson's lawyers asked the actor to personally attend mediation. He refused.
A doctor hired by Anderson's lawyer said the valet needed a $17,500 operation to correct a fracture caused by Sharif. Another specialist, however, found no break. One attorney who had a newborn in intensive care charged that another lawyer had refused to reschedule a proceeding.
The case quickly filled three volumes in the Los Angeles County Superior Court complex in Santa Monica.
By January, the sides were still hundreds of thousands of dollars apart in settlement negotiations.
Sharif had had enough. He conferred with his lawyers and asked them to file one last piece of paper: an advisory that he would be acting as his own attorney in the future and that any legal correspondence should be directed to him, in care of the Katameya Heights Golf Club in Cairo.
When the trial began in February, the defense table remained empty. Anderson testified and, based on his account and other uncontested evidence, the judge ordered Sharif to pay the valet $318,190, including $22,000 for past and future medical bills and $75,000 for pain and emotional distress.
Last month, the judge added $127,000 in legal bills to the amount Sharif owes Anderson and his lawyers.
Thomas Girardi, a civil litigator not involved in the case, said some might see the size of the judgment as proof that celebrities don't get treated fairly. But, he said, it was Sharif's refusal to work within the system and not the system itself that determined the large verdict.
"The independent judgment of the court is no longer possible once someone walks away from the court and refuses to defend himself," Girardi said.
Had he defended himself, a jury might have found for him and even ordered Anderson to pay his legal bills. "The rich man, like the poor man, should have respect for the law," he said, adding, "The United States has done a lot for him."
Nicholas Galloway, a security guard at Mastro's who witnessed Sharif strike the valet, said he was surprised by the amount of the judgment but had a difficult time naming the appropriate dollar figure.
"He shouldn't have been punched in the face," he said. "He's very nice, an older gentleman."
The criminal case, which has limped along beside the civil suit, is set to wrap up this morning with a restitution hearing in front of a Beverly Hills judge. Restitution, as opposed to civil damages, is compensation only for actual out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the victim because of the crime.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office declined to specify the amount prosecutors will request.
Braun said the amount should be "less than $2,500" because Anderson never got nasal surgery. Whatever the amount, Sharif will pay because disobeying a criminal court could result in his arrest, Braun said.
Yes I think if he disobeys the law he should get arrested next time he steps into the States and held accountable like everyone else would!!
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