BRIEFLY : THIEVES WHO STOLE HORSE BEING SOUGHT.

Authorities on Friday were looking for the thieves who stole a Netherlands-bred draft horse from the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Griffith Park.

Goliath was taken from the center's Polo Barn some time from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. Thursday, said Barbara Parkening, who has owned the horse since May.

She said the black stallion is valued at $20,000 to $50,000, and stands 5 feet 5 inches tall with a long black braided mane that reaches down to its knees.

``I'd love to have the horse back,'' she said.

``His previous owner left him to me when he passed away, and I feel a real sense of obligation to take good care of him to the best of my ability.''

She said she is offering a reward, but the amount has not yet been determined.

The horse needs daily medical attention for his hooves, she said, and his condition could prove fatal if left unattended.

Parkening, a Burbank resident, said the horse was stolen from a stall secured with a lock and chain.

Anyone with information about the horse can reach the owner at [phone].

- Daily News

Writer sues over screenplay sale

A woman who co-wrote a screenplay with the late Brynn Hartman sued Preferred Artists Friday for $1 million, alleging the agency sold the work to a tabloid without her consent.

The defendant could not be reached for a response to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Sheree Guitar says she penned ``Reckless Abandon'' with Hartman, who committed suicide May 28 last year after fatally shooting her husband, actor- comedian Phil Hartman.

Guitar contends that the screenplay was sold immediately after Brynn Hartman's death, but she never got any money.

She also contends that ``Reckless Abandon's'' value was diminished by the adverse publicity it got as a result of the sale to the tabloid, and that her professional reputation was damaged.

- City News Service

New tax committee names president

Mel Kohn, managing partner of an Encino accounting firm and a Valley Industry and Commerce Association leader, has been named president of the newly formed Los Angeles Business Tax Advisory Committee.

The committee was created by Mayor Richard Riordan and the City Council to provide recommendations to the council for the implementation of business tax reform.

The committee is charged with reviewing proposals, including exemptions for start-up businesses and other programs, and recommending strategies to simplify the city's business tax system.

Kohn, who is a partner in Kirsch, Kohn & Bridge CPAs and co-chairman of VICA's Local Issue Committee, is one of six VICA affiliates appointed to the 19-member committee.

- City News Service

Suspect is arrested in vandalism case

Police arrested a 33-year-old man Friday on suspicion of scrawling ``hate messages'' on an outside wall of a Los Feliz synagogue and a nearby fast food restaurant last month.

Bruce Edward Marshall, who allegedly has ties to the white supremacist movement, was taken into custody about 10 a.m. and booked on suspicion of ``vandalism to the (synagogue) for the purpose of intimidation,'' according to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson.

He was being held on $50,000 bail.

- City News Service

Psychiatrist tells about molestation 

A psychiatrist testified Friday that Jim Brown's wife was molested as a child and has a ``borderline personality disorder'' that may have caused her to lie to police when she claimed her husband threatened to kill her.

Helene McDonald said she interviewed Monique Brown for 12 hours and learned of her lifelong problems with men, dating back to abandonment by her father, conflicts with her stepfather and molestation by a stranger at age 8.

The doctor suggested Helene Brown called 911 on June 15 after arguing with her husband because she wanted to elicit a reaction and feared their marriage was ending.

She quoted Helene Brown as saying: ``IMf I'm going to get a divorce, I'd better look like the victim.''

Jim Brown, who set NFL rushing and scoring records for the Cleveland Browns in the 1960s, faces misdemeanor charges of making a terrorist threat and vandalism for bashing his wife's car with a shovel.

The prosecution has portrayed Brown as an abuser and his wife as a classic battered woman who rescinded abuse claims to keep her marriage together.

- Associated Press