Paparazzi Guilty in Schwarzenegger Case

Two celebrity photographers who pursued actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, NBC News correspondent Maria Shriver, through Westside streets last May as the couple drove their son to preschool were convicted Monday of misdemeanor false imprisonment charges by a judge who branded the paparazzi’s actions “outrageous.”

Stressing that his verdict was not intended to inhibit news photographers from legally going about their work, Superior Court Judge Robert A. Altman nevertheless said it was wrong for the defendants to interfere with the celebrities outside their child’s preschool and could have led to serious consequences for Schwarzenegger, who only a week before had checked out of a hospital after undergoing open-heart surgery.

“It was clear from the get-go that Mr. Schwarzenegger and Ms. Shriver did not want to be photographed and it was clear from the get-go this was not good for Mr. Schwarzenegger’s health,” Altman said.

The photographers--Andrew O’Brien, 31, and Giles Harrison, 29--were each convicted on two counts of misdemeanor false imprisonment, while Harrison was also convicted of reckless driving. Both men face a maximum of two years in prison on the false imprisonment counts while Harrison could receive an extra 90 days on the reckless driving count. The judge set sentencing for Feb. 23.

The judge acquitted the photographers on two other counts of false imprisonment stemming from the pursuit and earlier dismissed battery charges against O’Brien.

At the two-day trial, Schwarzenegger and Shriver provided vivid accounts of the chase, in which their Mercedes-Benz was pursued by photographers in two sports utility vehicles--one snapping still pictures and the other shooting video. The photographers denied that they knew the couple’s toddler son was strapped in the rear seat.

Shriver, who was pregnant at the time, told the court she was terrified by the pursuit and felt like a caged animal when trying to escape, while Schwarzenegger said he thought it might be a kidnapping attempt.