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Alleged Stalker Had `Dangerous Obsession' to Meet, Marry Gymnast Shawn Johnson
Posted Tuesday June 8, 2010 - 4.54pm
A man who had a "dangerous obsession' with Olympic gold medal winner Shawn Johnson drove from Florida to Los Angeles in March 2009 in an effort to meet and marry the gymnast, a prosecutor said today.
Deputy Public Defender Judith Greenberg countered that there was "no evidence that my client stalked Ms. Shawn Johnson' and no proof that he intended to harm Johnson after hopping a fence at CBS Studios to try to meet her while she was filming the TV show "Dancing With The Stars.'
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael E. Pastor is hearing the evidence against Robert Michael O'Ryan, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on Monday and waived his right to a trial before a jury.
O'Ryan, now 36, is charged with one felony count each of stalking and commercial burglary, along with two misdemeanor counts of carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle in a city.
Deputy District Attorney Wendy Segall told the judge in her opening statement that the case centered around "celebrity stalking' by O'Ryan, who made his way from a location near Jacksonville, Fla., to try to meet a young woman 18 years his junior at the studio where "Dancing With The Stars' was being filmed.
O'Ryan was seen jumping the fence at the television studio, then told a security officer that he was there to see Johnson, according to the prosecutor.
Following his March 23, 2009, arrest, authorities found numerous items in his car, including a loaded handgun beneath the vehicle's front seat, a loaded shotgun in the trunk and a knife and sharpening stone between the vehicle's center console and front seat, Segall said.
Also discovered in the car were a wooden club, duct tape, 22 zip ties, a bulletproof vest and love letters to Johnson in which O'Ryan had hyphenated his last name and Johnson's last name, according to the prosecutor.
She told the judge that O'Ryan had an ``obsessive, obsessive desire to marry' the athlete, and was going to do anything possible to accomplish that goal.
O'Ryan's attorney said her client's car was ``packed to the gills' with his possessions, including hundreds of pieces of clothing, a safe, a stamp collection and a coffee maker.
Greenberg told the judge that O'Ryan -- who had earned degrees in physics and mechanical engineering -- experienced auditory hallucinations, with his delusions compelling him to drive to Los Angeles.
O'Ryan believed that he and Johnson were destined to meet, and that he needed to come to California to protect her, according to his attorney.
"The delusions and the voices were telling him Shawn Johnson was in danger,' the defense lawyer told the judge.
Greenberg said there was no contact between her client and Johnson prior to his arrest, and that Johnson only learned of her client's existence after his arrest.
She noted that he was dressed in a suit and not armed with a weapon when he went to the television studio, and said he never intended to use the weapons stored in his car in an "offensive manner.'
The prosecution's first witness, Christopher Crisler, testified that he was in a marked police vehicle when he pulled over O'Ryan in a gold Honda Accord for improper lane usage in Loxley, Ala., about 1:30 p.m. on March 19, 2009.
I n a videotape from the patrol car's "dash-cam' played in court, O'Ryan is heard telling the officer that he was headed to California to meet Johnson, with whom he said he had communicated telepathically.
He denied having any weapons in his car.
Another prosecution witness, CBS video technician Terry James, said he notified security after seeing O'Ryan jump a fence at the studio.
CBS security officer Carmen Zuniga testified that O'Ryan came up to her in an area reserved for VIPs and employees and said he was there to see Johnson.
A production assistant responded that Johnson was not expecting him and did not know him, and other security officers responded to the scene and searched O'Ryan, according to Zuniga.
Michael Elias, an audience coordinator, testified that he told O'Ryan -- who was waiting in a general ticket line to get into "Dancing With The Stars' -- that he would not be able to get in without a ticket and that he asked him to step aside.
Horace Hodges, a security supervisor at CBS, testified that O'Ryan told security officers that Johnson had indicated via ESP that she wanted him to come to the TV studio.
O'Ryan told security officers that he had two weapons in his car, which was parked at The Grove shopping center nearby, but wasn't carrying anything with him, according to Hodges.
O'Ryan faces up to three years and eight months in state prison and an additional two years in county jail if convicted and found sane, the judge said at a hearing Monday.
Pastor warned the defendant that he could potentially spend the rest of his life in a state mental hospital if he is found insane.
Testimony is expected to resume Wednesday morning. - CNS
A man who had a "dangerous obsession' with Olympic gold medal winner Shawn Johnson drove from Florida to Los Angeles in March 2009 in an effort to meet and marry the gymnast, a prosecutor said today.
Deputy Public Defender Judith Greenberg countered that there was "no evidence that my client stalked Ms. Shawn Johnson' and no proof that he intended to harm Johnson after hopping a fence at CBS Studios to try to meet her while she was filming the TV show "Dancing With The Stars.'
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael E. Pastor is hearing the evidence against Robert Michael O'Ryan, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on Monday and waived his right to a trial before a jury.
O'Ryan, now 36, is charged with one felony count each of stalking and commercial burglary, along with two misdemeanor counts of carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle in a city.
Deputy District Attorney Wendy Segall told the judge in her opening statement that the case centered around "celebrity stalking' by O'Ryan, who made his way from a location near Jacksonville, Fla., to try to meet a young woman 18 years his junior at the studio where "Dancing With The Stars' was being filmed.
O'Ryan was seen jumping the fence at the television studio, then told a security officer that he was there to see Johnson, according to the prosecutor.
Following his March 23, 2009, arrest, authorities found numerous items in his car, including a loaded handgun beneath the vehicle's front seat, a loaded shotgun in the trunk and a knife and sharpening stone between the vehicle's center console and front seat, Segall said.
Also discovered in the car were a wooden club, duct tape, 22 zip ties, a bulletproof vest and love letters to Johnson in which O'Ryan had hyphenated his last name and Johnson's last name, according to the prosecutor.
She told the judge that O'Ryan had an ``obsessive, obsessive desire to marry' the athlete, and was going to do anything possible to accomplish that goal.
O'Ryan's attorney said her client's car was ``packed to the gills' with his possessions, including hundreds of pieces of clothing, a safe, a stamp collection and a coffee maker.
Greenberg told the judge that O'Ryan -- who had earned degrees in physics and mechanical engineering -- experienced auditory hallucinations, with his delusions compelling him to drive to Los Angeles.
O'Ryan believed that he and Johnson were destined to meet, and that he needed to come to California to protect her, according to his attorney.
"The delusions and the voices were telling him Shawn Johnson was in danger,' the defense lawyer told the judge.
Greenberg said there was no contact between her client and Johnson prior to his arrest, and that Johnson only learned of her client's existence after his arrest.
She noted that he was dressed in a suit and not armed with a weapon when he went to the television studio, and said he never intended to use the weapons stored in his car in an "offensive manner.'
The prosecution's first witness, Christopher Crisler, testified that he was in a marked police vehicle when he pulled over O'Ryan in a gold Honda Accord for improper lane usage in Loxley, Ala., about 1:30 p.m. on March 19, 2009.
I n a videotape from the patrol car's "dash-cam' played in court, O'Ryan is heard telling the officer that he was headed to California to meet Johnson, with whom he said he had communicated telepathically.
He denied having any weapons in his car.
Another prosecution witness, CBS video technician Terry James, said he notified security after seeing O'Ryan jump a fence at the studio.
CBS security officer Carmen Zuniga testified that O'Ryan came up to her in an area reserved for VIPs and employees and said he was there to see Johnson.
A production assistant responded that Johnson was not expecting him and did not know him, and other security officers responded to the scene and searched O'Ryan, according to Zuniga.
Michael Elias, an audience coordinator, testified that he told O'Ryan -- who was waiting in a general ticket line to get into "Dancing With The Stars' -- that he would not be able to get in without a ticket and that he asked him to step aside.
Horace Hodges, a security supervisor at CBS, testified that O'Ryan told security officers that Johnson had indicated via ESP that she wanted him to come to the TV studio.
O'Ryan told security officers that he had two weapons in his car, which was parked at The Grove shopping center nearby, but wasn't carrying anything with him, according to Hodges.
O'Ryan faces up to three years and eight months in state prison and an additional two years in county jail if convicted and found sane, the judge said at a hearing Monday.
Pastor warned the defendant that he could potentially spend the rest of his life in a state mental hospital if he is found insane.
Testimony is expected to resume Wednesday morning. - CNS
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