Gwyneth Paltrow’s Stalker Is Harmless, According To Jury
When you’re an attractive famous person, it’s more than likely that you have, are having, or are going to have an experience with a stalker. Just ask Gwyneth Paltrow! She’s in the news these days due to the reemergence of a stalker who use to send her sex toys and creepy letters back in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Luckily for Paltrow, 66-year-old Dante Soiu is a changed man. Still, the actress hasn’t exactly been thrilled to have him back in her life. Apparently, after a few years of hiatus, Soiu decided to start trying to contact Paltrow again in order to make amends for his previous… conduct. She was, understandably, skeptical of his intentions, and opted to take legal action before things had a chance to get out of hand again. But after due consideration, an Ohio jury has decided that Dante Soiu is indeed changed, or at least, his strategy for wooing Gwyneth Paltrow has. On February 17, he was acquitted.
How Not To Contact Celebrities:
Dante Soiu has performed a great service to over-zealous fans all over the world by effectively cultivating an undesirably creepy image. He’s demonstrated a couple of things: first, that he cares a lot, and second, that he chose a self-destructive way of expressing those feelings. Would-be stalkers now know exactly what not to do.
His first attempts at getting in touch with Gwyneth Paltrow in the early 2000s were too aggressive. Sex toys and lewd letters are not things that celebrities want to receive in the mail from strangers. Actually, that’s a rule that I will now generously apply to the population at large. Do not send stuff like that to people unless they have given permission to do so.
The only reason Soiu wasn’t found guilty of stalking the first time was because he was able to successfully plead insanity. Instead of getting incarcerated, he was committed to a mental institution.
But Is He Dangerous?
That’s the question that the jury had to answer this week. See, even though Soiu didn’t send anything pornographic to Paltrow this time, that doesn’t mean she was grateful for his recommencement of communication. In recent years, Soiu has sent the actress earrings, used clothes, religious texts, a Weight Watchers cookbook, and copies of letters he sent to Barack Obama and Angelina Jolie.
At least he didn’t try to meet her, though! He tried that tactic in 1999 and is probably, at this point, well aware of how bad of a decision that was.
This time around, he was at least committed to not being dangerous. Gwyneth Paltrow was scared anyways, but hey, at least he didn’t break the law again!
There is such a thing as being too aggressively nice. Saying things like, “I have a goal: to marry Gwyneth Paltrow and take care of her,” might not explicitly be threatening, but the implication of actions and intentions there are pretty unsettling.
Anyways, the jury decided: Dante Soiu’s behavior was “reprehensible,” and creepy in consideration of his history, but doesn’t qualify him for stalking charges. Way to dodge a felony, dude! Now all you have to do is never, ever try to talk to Gwyneth Paltrow again.
Stalking Crimes In Tennessee
Tennessee shares something very special with Ohio, and the rest of America: legal protection against stalkers.
In Tennessee, criminal stalking is a Class A misdemeanor — for the first offense. Repeated offenses result in felonies, the classes of which escalates accordingly. The crime itself is qualified by the following:
…a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another individual that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested, and that actually cause the victim to feel [terrorized, frightened, etc.].
Yes, it’s important to remember that stalking crimes have to involve a trend or pattern. Isolated events could reasonably amount to misunderstandings, so it’s crucial for the court to be able to confirm whether or not such conduct has been repeated.
This doesn’t mean that you can stalk someone once and get away with it. There’s still such a thing as privacy invasion. But as far as “stalking” goes, that’s something that happens more than once.
Nashville Criminal Attorneys
At Turner Law Offices, P.C., our team of attorneys has years of experience working with clients across a wide range of cases involving stalkers. It doesn’t pay to take chances, so if you’re afraid that someone might be stalking you, the first thing you should do is immediately contact a legal representative who can ensure your protection and put you on the right track to resolve the issue. Call today, or go online to set up your free initial consultation, and meet with a skilled lawyer who’s ready and waiting to guide you toward the justice you deserve.
