Entertainment

Clint's Fistful of Dollars

September 29, 2000 / 12:39 PM EDT / AP

Actor Clint Eastwood does not have to pay damages to a disabled woman who says his Mission Ranch Inn violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, a jury found Friday.

The jury deliberated for four hours Thursday and Friday before reaching a verdict in U.S. District Court.

Eastwood was found liable for two minor violations regarding access to the hotel office at his property near Carmel.

During the 10-day trial, the lawyer for plaintiff Diane zum Brunnen told the eight jurors they should not excuse Eastwood from requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and a similar California law because he is a "very special man."

"I believe he thinks as a matter of principle he is entitled to special consideration from you," John Burris said in his closing arguments, gesturing across the courtroom toward the actor-director, who has been in court every day since the trial began Sept. 19.

Burris did not ask for a specific amount of damages from the jury.

He said Eastwood spent millions renovating his Mission Ranch near Carmel but neglected to spend a "fistful of dollars" - a reference to the first of Eastwood's "spaghetti Westerns" - on improving disabled access.

Eastwood attorney Chuck Keller also used the reference in his closing argument.

"Make no bones about it," Keller said. "That's why the plaintiff is here ... because she, and those who represent her, want a fistful of dollars."

Zum Brunnen, 51, who has muscular dystrophy, sued Eastwood in 1997, a year after she and her husband say they had dinner at Mission Ranch. The Alameda couple complained that the wheelchair-accessible bathroom was in another building, more than 200 feet away, across a driveway; the only accessible guest room cost $225 a night, when other rooms were as little as $85; and there was no ramp to the main office.

Eastwood, 70, said he should have been told about the problems so he could fix them instead of being sued. The zum Brunnens testified that they sent Eastwood two letters in 1995 to complain about the disparity in room rates but got no answer.

Eastwood bought Mission Ranch, a former dairy farm dating to the 1850s, in 1987 for more than $4 million. He testified that his renovations have tried to ensure access to the disabled while preserving the ranch's historic character.

"We all know this is about cash," he said outside court Thursday, theatrically whispering and elongating the final word.