Gibson
VAN NUYS, Calif. - In the end, no one believed Jody (Babydol) Gibson was an aspiring porn filmmaker. The madam, whom some believe had the same high-powered clients as Heidi Fleiss, was convicted April 7 on three counts of felony pimping, though her jury deadlocked on four counts of pandering. And a key part of what swung the case against her was testimony from three former prostitutes who worked for her.
The 41-year-old madam now faces a maximum eight years, eight months behind bars, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. She might have faced 14 years if she'd been found guilty on all the other counts. She's been remanded to county jail until her sentencing, with bail at $500,000.
Gibson was convicted in a case that pegged her as the mastermind of an international prostitution ring which counted celebrities and rich professionals among its clientele. Prosecutor Richard Walmark called the verdict a validation of the Los Angeles Police Department for its probe into the case. But Walmark didn't yet say whether Gibson would be tried again on the pandering charges.
Gibson's attorney, Gerald Scotti, calls the case a waste of District Attorney Gil Garcetti's resources, according to the Los Angeles Times. "The D.A.'s office thinks it's more important to investigate this case than to prosecute murders and gangs and robberies and real crimes."
Various members of the jury told the paper there was too much evidence on the pimping counts, but there remained holdouts on the pandering counts. And several jurors told the paper testimony from three of Gibson's former prostitutes - testifying under last-minute immunity - helped convince them Gibson was guilty.
The defense also argued police misconduct, but jurors said it wasn't enough to negate the validity of the case.
Gibson was arrested in June 1999, in a police sting in which she met a purported wealthy Middle Eastern businessman at a Century City hotel - a businessman who turned out to be an undercover police officer. The prosecution's burden was to prove Gibson knew someone was a prostitute and drew support from even part of the prostitute's earnings. Pandering required proof that Gibson procured, encouraged, or persuaded someone to become a prostitute.
