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Accused
Thurman stalker in court in NYC
Samuel Maull
NEW YORK—A former psychiatric patient pleaded not guilty Friday to
stalking Uma Thurman for nearly two years.
Jack Jordan, 35, has been held on $10,000 bail since his arrest in
October. A felony complaint said he had tried unsuccessfully on Nov. 8,
2005, to get into Thurman’s trailer on a movie set in Manhattan’s SoHo
neighborhood. Authorities say he also sent Thurman e-mails and letters,
followed her and threatened to kill himself if he saw the 37-year-old
actress with another man.
He was arraigned Friday on an attempted coercion charge in Manhattan’s
state Supreme Court. He could face up to four years in prison if
convicted.
The day after his arrest, Jordan’s family had him involuntarily
committed to a psychiatric hospital. After his release, he sent numerous
e-mails addressed to Thurman and other members of her family during
August and September of 2006, the criminal complaint says.
Last August, it says, he appeared three or four times a week at
Thurman’s home, asking to see her and being told to leave.
Thurman has starred in “Pulp Fiction,” “The Producers” and the “Kill
Bill” movies.
Jordan was told to return to court Dec. 5 for a possible disposition of
the case. Meanwhile, an order of protection directs him to stay away
from Thurman.
Justice Lewis Bart Stone denied a request to reduce bail.
“If the complainant weren’t Ms. Thurman,” said defense lawyer George
Vomvolakis, “this would have been a misdemeanor stalking case.”
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Hill said Jordan had been
“acting erratically for the past several years” and therefore wasn’t a
good bail risk.
Vomvolakis said Jordan is a 1994 graduate of the University of Chicago
and is currently a graduate student at Mills College in Oakland. He
denied that his client was homeless, saying he had family and a home in
Massachusetts. |