Local News in Brief : Fired Prosecutor Misses Hearing

A former Los Angeles County deputy district attorney, who was fired last year after allegedly having sex with a prostitute in a parked car, failed to appear at his Civil Service hearing.

Gary Kesselman, the original prosecutor in the “Twilight Zone” manslaughter case, was fired last November after being arrested on a charge of lewd conduct. But he had appealed his dismissal to the Civil Service Commission, claiming that there was insufficient evidence to dismiss him.

The commission, however, ruled Wednesday that Kesselman’s appeal was withdrawn after he failed to appear before a Civil Service hearing examiner. Kesselman has 10 days to challenge that decision, according to Gene Pomeroy, the commission’s executive director.

Kesselman was the first prosecutor in the “Twilight Zone” movie case against film director John Landis and four associates in which actor Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed. Kesselman was taken off the case in late 1985. All five defendants were eventually acquitted.