UCLA Hillel Director Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller will head to
court today to meet with a court officer who will attempt to
resolve an ongoing conflict between the rabbi and freelance
journalist Rachel Neuwirth.
The hearing was scheduled by the district attorney following
investigation of an incident that occurred between the two parties
on Oct. 21.
According to police reports, Seidler-Feller allegedly kicked the
journalist while both were outside Royce Hall following a
presentation by Harvard Law professor and author Alan
Dershowitz.
Witnesses said Neuwirth called Seidler-Feller a
“capo” at some point during the altercation.
“Capo” is a derogatory term for Jews who collaborated
with the Nazis during World War II.
During the meeting, Seidler-Feller and Neuwirth will meet
separately with a hearing officer. The officer will listen to each
person’s account of what occurred and will subsequently
recommend some sort of action to the court.
The officer could recommend to either party a resolution such as
counseling or anger management therapy, said district attorney
spokesman Eric Moses.
The district attorney decided not to press criminal charges
against Seidler-Feller about a week after the incident, but the
hearing officer could also ask the case to be sent back to the D.A.
for further review.
Moses said there is no timetable on the officer’s
recommendation.
Donald Etra, Seidler-Feller’s lawyer, said that in the
“most intelligent scenario” for this case, “both
parties will shake hands, make up and cease their current
disputes.”
Etra added that he believes the D.A.’s decision to decline
prosecution was “absolutely correct” because
“this is an incident Ms. Neuwirth is trying to blow way out
of proportion.”
Douglas Graham, senior law clerk at the office of Robert
Esensten, Neuwirth’s lawyer, said the proper outcome for the
hearing would be for the renewal of criminal charges against
Seidler-Feller.
“The most favorable outcome for her with this hearing is
if they charge the guy with the crime, which is what he
committed,” Graham said.
“An anger management course isn’t going to mitigate
what’s already happened,” he added.
In a development unrelated to the D.A. hearing today, Neuwirth
filed civil charges last week against Seidler-Feller for civil
battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Neuwirth also filed suit against Hillel for “negligent
retention” of the rabbi, arguing that the Jewish campus
organization knew of Seidler-Feller’s “well-documented
history of bizarre, volatile confrontation and violent
behavior,” according to the official complaint.
The preliminary conference for the civil suit is scheduled to
take place March 1.