[re Kirkland, Jim Bell, etc.]
http://latimes.com/news/local/la-000011272feb13.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dcalifornia
Stalking Law Called Too Narrow for Meg Ryan Fan
Crime: Officials must prove he meant to cause
fear when he broke into a Malibu home he
thought was actress'.
By ANNA GORMAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER
John Michael Hughes gave a simple, if incredible,
explanation to
sheriff's deputies for why he broke into a Malibu
house last month. His
fiancee forgot to leave a key under the mat, so he
had to smash the
bedroom window to climb inside.
The woman Hughes calls his fiancee is actress Meg
Ryan, who says
she has never met the 30-year-old former real
estate agent from
Florida.
Hughes, who
was
also
convicted
last year of
attempting
to
enter
President
Bush's Texas
ranch with
firearms,
reacted
with
disbelief
when a
detective
told him he
was
not engaged
to
Ryan. Hughes
said that no
matter where
in
the world
Ryan
was, he would find her. Though Hughes might seem
like an ideal candidate for charges under
California's anti-stalking law, prosecutors say he
doesn't fit the narrow legal definition of a stalker
because they cannot prove that he intended to cause
fear in the actress--no matter how fearful she
now is. Although the state has made great strides
in the last decade in cracking down on stalkers,
prosecutors say, the Hughes case highlights
weaknesses that remain.
<snip>
