International Paparazzi Donnybrook Ends with Dropped Charges

• Another Internet Media Frenzy Ends with a Fizzle as County Decides Not to ‘Threepeat’ Counts

BY ANNE SOBLE

Now that it takes mere nanoseconds for the most innocuous of events to become international media fodder, one has to wonder whether there can ever be a jury that is untouched by some form of bias.

That and the cult of celebrity that appears to run rampant throughout all society raise philosophical and legal issues regarding how the jury system responds to the nonstop barrage of reverence for the famous, especially those who are famous for being famous.

No one, least of all many Malibuites, expected a local jury to convict two longtime Malibuites of the misdemeanor battery charges—one count for each—brought by a freelance photographer, a paparazzo, who claims he was attacked for trying to take photos of local resident Matthew McConaughey during a raucous melee at Little Dume two years ago.

After two mistrials, the first because a defendant’s mother was in an automobile accident, and the second attributed to a hung jury, Superior Court Judge Larry Mira dropped the charges against Skylar Peak and Philip Hildebrand, aka “the surfers,”  who sent emails to local media the night before the court session because they knew what was coming down.

The Los Angeles Country District Attorney’s office indicated that prosecutors decided against starting a third trial, with some attorneys privately indicating that without a likelihood of conviction, the action was not worth pursuing.

Peak and Hildebrand were accused of confronting several paparazzi attempting to take photos of McConaughey, who lives on Point Dume and had just finished shooting a surf-themed film.

The encounter that took place in June 2008 rapidly deteriorated from an exchange of words to a physical free-for-all. The plaintiff, a French freelancer, accusing the two Malibu men of knocking him into the water and damaging his camera equipment; the defendants countering that the plaintiff initiated the fight, striking Peak in the arm with a monopod and possibly wielding a knife.

In less than 24 hours, the incident, complete with McConaughey’s name attached to it and paparazzi-shot—and possibly edited—video of the brouhaha, made headlines on tabloid Internet sites from Russia to Australia.

To say that McConaughey and his family are among the most photographed personalities in celebrity media may not be an understatement. He and they appear to take the non-stop attention in stride and his spokespersons took pains to stress that he was not aware of the 2008 paparazzo incident when it occurred.

In the interest of neighborliness, McConaughey reportedly wished the two defendants well, but sources said he did not intend to testify on their behalf or play a public role in the legal proceedings.

McConaughey’s neighbors reported having had to endure months of media frenzy after the actor moved into the quiet residential neighborhood on Point Dume, with photographers’ cars lining the street, and groups of hopeful paparazzi clustered outside his residence, hoping for a glimpse of the entertainer.

Many Little Dume area residents are expressing relief that the case has been dismissed. There were concerns that private beach issues might have become embroiled in the legal wrangling.

Some now say that the McConaughey residential paparazzi problem has slowly declined to a more tolerable level of annoyance that was equated by one neighbor to being “not nearly as irritating as leaf blowers.”