A homeless man sneaked past security guards at a gated Malibu community to get to Mel Gibson’s home because God told him to pray with the maker of ”The Passion of the Christ,” a prosecutor told a court Wednesday.
Deputy District Attorney Debra Archuleta said that in July last year Zack Sinclair, a 34 year-old from Idaho, began writing letters to Gibson telling him he was on a mission from God to talk and pray with the actor.
“Mr Sinclair believes he is being told by God to pray with Mr Gibson,” she told the jury at the opening of Sinclair’s trial in which the movie star is due to testify Thursday.
Sinclair, who prosecutors say has a history of mental illness and a prior case of stalking in Idaho, is charged with one count of felony stalking.
Gibson wrote, directed and produced the blockbuster movie ”The Passion of the Christ” about the last hours in the life of Jesus, which came out last spring.
Sinclair, acting as his own lawyer, said in a brief opening statement he would not question witnesses because the burden of proof was going to be “too heavy” for prosectors to succeed.
Sheriff’s deputies testified that Sinclair sent Gibson many letters and that he later walked up a creek bed to avoid security guards to get to the actor’s home in the exclusive Malibu community.
A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy, Mark Winn, who confronted Sinclair outside Gibson’s home, said when he told him he must leave and could not return, the Idaho man became ”teary-eyed” and upset.
“He was kind of in disbelief that he was not allowed to go on with his mission,” Winn said.