The city attorney’s office decided Thursday not to press
criminal charges against Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, director of
UCLA Hillel, for an alleged assault on Oct. 21.
Seidler-Feller and the alleged victim, Rachel Neuwirth, will
attend a city attorney hearing set for Dec. 1, said Eric Moses, a
spokesman for the office of the Los Angeles city attorney.
During the hearing, each party will meet separately with the
city attorney to discuss the incident and try to reach a resolution
outside of normal court procedure.
“We usually try to settle these kind of cases outside the
criminal justice system,” Moses said.
Results of the hearing could include a recommendation for the
two parties to stay away from each other, or be mandated to attend
anger management classes.
The recommendations will not be official court orders, but the
parties will sign binding contracts to follow through and report
back to the city attorney’s office, Moses said.
Donald Etra, Seidler-Feller’s attorney, said his client is
extremely gratified that no criminal charges are being filed.
“His goal at this point is to make peace, not war,”
he said.
Neuwirth’s attorney, Robert Esensten, was not available
for comment on Thursday.
The alleged assault on Neuwirth occurred outside a Royce Hall
presentation by Alan Dershowitz on Oct. 21.
Neuwirth, a freelance reporter, reported to police that
Seidler-Feller grabbed her wrist and kicked her after she
approached him to criticize Palestinian Authority Commissioner Sari
Nusseibeh, whose upcoming campus appearance Seidler-Feller had been
discussing.
During the confrontation, eyewitnesses said Neuwirth called
Seidler-Feller a “capo,” a derogatory term for Jews who
were forced to work with the Nazis against other Jews in death
camps during World War II.