Judge grants Sheryl Crow 3-year restraining order
By By Anthony Mccartney
Topics: From the Wires
FILE - This April 18, 2012 file photo shows musician Sheryl Crow at the Entertainment Industry Foundation's "Unforgettable Evening" in Beverly Hills, Calif. On Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012, Superior Court Judge James K. Hahn granted Crow and film executive Harvey Weinstein a three-year restraining order against Philip Sparks, 45, who allegedly threatened to shoot them. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)(Credit: AP)SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — A judge granted Sheryl Crow a three-year restraining order against a man who acknowledged he threatened to shoot the singer-songwriter and film executive Harvey Weinstein.
Philip Gordon Sparks, 45, agreed to stay away from the Grammy winner and Weinstein after an hour-long hearing in which he accused the pair of stealing $7.5 million from him, videotaping and following him without permission and leaving him homeless. A forensic psychiatrist who interviewed Sparks recently called him “imminently dangerous” and said his psychosis is directed intently at Crow.
Superior Court Judge James Hahn ordered Sparks to stay 300 yards away from Crow and Weinstein and make no attempt to contact them.
Hahn, the former Los Angeles mayor who was appointed as a judge in 2008, presided over the hour-long hearing, patiently instructing Sparks to ask questions and allow him to describe at length his reasons for feeling persecuted.
Crow obtained a temporary restraining order against the 45-year-old in July after her team reviewed a series of Sparks’ online posts directed at the singer.
A worker at the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists wrote in a declaration accompanying Crow’s filing that she spoke with Sparks on July 16 and he made the threat against Crow. He also threatened to shoot film executive Weinstein because he believed they were filming him and had stolen millions from him, the worker stated.
Crow, 50, has won nine Grammy Awards and has two sons, ages 5 and 2, who are also covered by the order.
Sparks said he made the statement because he was frustrated because he believes they stole from him and continued to follow him.
“Mr. Sparks is unambiguously delusional,” forensic psychiatrist Dr. David Glaser testified during the hearing.
Neither Crow nor Weinstein attended the hearing.
___
Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
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