BALDWIN TELLS COURT HE FEARED FOR SAFETY OF FAMILY IN TUSSLE.Byline: Alex Roth Daily News Staff Writer Actor Alec Baldwin testified Tuesday that a rough-and-tumble encounter with a ``wild-eyed'' tabloid photographer in 1995 has forced him to fear for the safety of his family. Cameraman Alan Zanger is suing Baldwin for assault in a scuffle outside Baldwin's Woodland Hills house in October 1995. At the time, Baldwin and his wife - Oscar-winning actress Kim Basinger - had just returned from the hospital with their newborn daughter, Ireland. Baldwin is Baldwin I, Latin emperor of Constantinople Baldwin I (bôl`dwĭn), 1171–1205, 1st Latin emperor of Constantinople (1204–5). The count of Flanders (as Baldwin IX), he was a leader in the Fourth Crusade (see Crusades). countersuing Zanger for invasion of privacy invasion of privacy n. the intrusion into the personal life of another, without just cause, which can give the person whose privacy has been invaded a right to bring a lawsuit for damages against the person or entity that intruded. . ``This incident with Zanger changed everything in our lives,'' the star of ``Hunt for Red October'' told jurors in Van Nuys Superior Court. ``It changed everything.'' Baldwin testified that his relationship with the press and public generally has been positive. ``In the end,'' he said, ``your problems begin when people stop asking you for your autograph autograph Any manuscript handwritten by its author; in common usage, a handwritten signature. Aside from its value as a collector's item, an early or corrected draft of a work may show its stages of composition or “correct” final version. .'' His appearance Tuesday filled the courtroom with reporters. The 40-year-old actor tried - unsuccessfully - to avoid photographers and cameramen by using a secret entrance, his lawyer said. On the day of the scuffle, Zanger had been hiding inside his truck to videotape the famous couple, and he says Baldwin fractured his nose. Baldwin was acquitted of misdemeanor battery charges in 1996. Baldwin said his home in Woodland Hills now has a large security gate. ``One of the reasons we live in Woodland Hills is that people wouldn't expect us to live in Woodland Hills,'' the actor said, adding that he had ``never, prior to this incident, had anybody hiding in a car in front of my home.'' Baldwin testified that Basinger had just given birth through a Caesarean section caesarean section: see cesarean section. , was ``almost doubled over in pain'' and ``in no mood to be photographed or videographed.'' A bodyguard also suggested the couple could prevent a possible kidnapping kidnapping, in law, the taking away of a person by force, threat, or deceit, with intent to cause him to be detained against his will. Kidnapping may be done for ransom or for political or other purposes. by making sure no one photographed or videotaped their child, Baldwin testified. When the couple arrived home from Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Baldwin noticed a truck with tinted tint n. 1. A shade of a color, especially a pale or delicate variation. 2. A gradation of a color made by adding white to it to lessen its saturation. 3. A slight coloration; a tinge. 4. windows parked by his home. He knocked on the windows but no one responded, so he sprayed shaving cream on the truck's windows to cut off the view. ``It seemed like the nonconfrontational solution to my problem at the time,'' the actor testified. Zanger got out and continued filming, despite Baldwin's ``polite'' requests to stop, the actor testified. Baldwin said Zanger then tried to hit him with the camera, at which point he knocked the camera into Zanger's face in self-defense (Law) in protection of self, - it being permitted in law to a party on whom a grave wrong is attempted to resist the wrong, even at the peril of the life of the assailiant. - Wharton. See also: Self-defense . Earlier in the trial, Zanger testified that Baldwin charged him, punched him in the face and kicked him - all without provocation Conduct by which one induces another to do a particular deed; the act of inducing rage, anger, or resentment in another person that may cause that person to engage in an illegal act. . Zanger contends the run-in left him with dizziness dizziness: see vertigo. and other physical ailments, causing his income to drop from $276,000 in 1995 to just $78,000 the following year. Baldwin is scheduled to resume his testimony today. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Actor Alec Baldwin is driven away from Van Nuys Superior Court during the lunch break in his trial Tuesday. Evan Yee/Daily News |
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