Uma Thurman's stalker seeks to reduce new charges

NEW YORK (AP) — Uma Thurman's stalker asked a judge on Wednesday to pare down new charges that he flouted a court order by trying to contact the actress again, and his lawyer said the case had been overblown.

Lawyer Sam Roberts told the judge that Jack Jordan shouldn't be facing felony criminal contempt charges because he's not accused of threatening the "Kill Bill" star — just of trying to talk to her. Jordan has pleaded not guilty to the felony contempt charges and various misdemeanors, including stalking.

State Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro is weighing the argument and may decide Feb. 23. In the meantime, Jordan, a former psychiatric patient, remains jailed on $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash bail, which Roberts called unduly high.

"Ms. Thurman is not a vulnerable victim, especially in light of the fact that no threats have been made," said Roberts, arguing the Oscar-nominated actress has assistants to limit access to her.

Prosecutors retorted that Thurman's staff and status should have no bearing on what protections the legal system affords her.

"She's been stalked by the defendant, who is severely mentally ill, for six years," said Michelle Kaminsky, a Brooklyn assistant district attorney who's handling the case in a Manhattan court.

Jordan was convicted in 2008 of stalking and harassing the "Pulp Fiction" actress. He was sentenced to three years' probation and told not to try to contact Thurman for five years.

Thurman told jurors at his trial that she was "completely freaked out" by his behavior. He called her family and employees, tried to get into her trailer on a movie set, showed up at her Manhattan home late at night and sent letters with creepy images — such as a picture of a bride with her head torn off — and such messages as "my hands should be on your body at all times," according to testimony.

Jordan, 39, testified that he'd developed a crush on Thurman in high school after seeing her in the 1988 movie "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen." He said he was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital in 2005 after being questioned about his obsession with Thurman.

After his conviction, Jordan said he realized he'd "overstepped" legal bounds in his quest to get to know Thurman.

Though he was ordered not to try to contact Thurman, authorities say he did just that this fall. He tried to reach her in repeated phone calls on Oct. 29 and 30, prosecutors said.

He was arrested in November at his family's home in North Potomac, Md., where police said they found him sitting in front of a computer with Thurman's name in a Google search box.

He told police the calls were a drunken mistake, prosecutors said.

Thurman's spokeswoman has said she won't comment on the case, which is before the judge who presided over Jordan's trial but is being prosecuted by the Brooklyn district attorney's office because Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance's former law firm has represented the actress.