Jurors Clear Businessman in Brutal Attack on His Ex-Wife

Jurors voted Friday in favor of a Westlake Village businessman whose wife had accused him in a civil trial of smashing her skull during an attack that left her partially paralyzed and brain damaged.

Following two days of deliberations, jurors concluded 11 to 1 that lawyers for 51-year-old Linda Morrisset had not shown that her ex-husband, Lee Mannheimer, 59, was responsible for the attack in 1999. However, one of the panelists said some members on the panel believed the defendant was involved in the attack with a metal flashlight.

“A lot of us had a gut feeling he may have been responsible,” said juror Jerry Landis of Port Hueneme, “but there just wasn’t enough solid evidence to comfortably pin it on one person.”

The lone holdout, a man on active duty in the military, left the courthouse without talking to reporters after the 5:30 p.m. verdict in Ventura County Superior Court.

Another juror, Sandy Kueny of Moorpark, said deliberations were highly charged at times as the panel tried to sort through three weeks of testimony in what one attorney described as a “he-said, she-said” case.

“It wasn’t just one thing,” Kueny said. “It was several things that we had to go over again and again.”

Jurors said they were swayed by the absence of physical evidence linking Mannheimer to the Sept. 11, 1999, beating of his wife, a Newbury Park accountant.

They also said a key factor was the testimony of the couple’s 12-year-old son, Maxx, who said his father was at his home in Westlake Village the night his mother was attacked in her home near Camarillo.

Neither Mannheimer nor Morrisset was in court when the verdict was read.

But in a telephone interview Friday night, Mannheimer said he was elated but confused as to why it took jurors “so long” to reach a verdict.

“I am very happy,” Mannheimer said, noting that he was sitting next to his son in their home. “My son is a first-class Boy Scout who doesn’t lie.

“Much of what was said by the plaintiff were things that never happened.”

Mannheimer said that what happened to Morrisset was a tragedy, but that he didn’t do it.

The person who did, he said, was likely a jewel thief who broke into the house and then attacked Morrisset when she surprised him.

“It’s a travesty of justice that the Sheriff’s Department hasn’t brought this person to justice,” he said. “Linda is the mother of my son, and I have tried to help her.”

The couple have joint custody of Maxx, but Mannheimer said Morrisset is unable to care for the boy because of her injuries. She had been seeking $2 million in damages.

Morrisset’s attorney, Allen Ball, called the verdict a great disappointment.

He said he believes the evidence shows that Mannheimer was responsible for his ex-wife’s injuries.

“Linda is going to be the only one in a wheelchair this Christmas,” Ball said.

Ball said Morrisset may appeal on the grounds that the jury was not allowed to consider whether Mannheimer masterminded the attack by directing someone else to carry it out.

Mannheimer’s attorney, Greg Ramirez, called the verdict a relief but a tragedy for his client’s entire family.

“It’s been a long four years for him,” Ramirez said. “It’s a shame these disputes end up in court.”

Morrisset filed a lawsuit two years ago after prosecutors declined to charge Mannheimer in the near-fatal attack.

She was found lying in a pool of blood the next morning by a family housekeeper.

After waking from a 16-day coma, Morrisset identified Mannheimer as her attacker.

Authorities arrested him, but he was released after prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to file criminal charges.

Investigators said that the biggest stumbling block was Morrisset’s inability to fully recall the attack.