There was a casting problem on the set of “Charles Nagel’s Extradition Hearing” yesterday. The lawyers were there. So were the judge, reporters, FBI agents and the suspect’s wife and daughters HarleyQuinn and Bat Girl, who brought a pair of pajama-clad stuffed animals. Yet, the star was nowhere to be found.
That unexpected plot twist came after Philadelphia and Brooklyn, N.Y., prosecutors dropped their charges of aggravated harassment and stalking from an alleged March incident that involved “Law and Order:
Criminal Intent” actress Kathryn Erbe as the victim.
Instead, federal charges have been filed against Nagel, who was carted away by federal agents before his scheduled extradition hearing took place.
The new indictment cites Nagel’s alleged “intent to harass and cause substantial emotional distress,” detailing e-mails, set visits and a seven-page handwritten letter Nagel sent to Erbe and her ex-husband’s home. Defense attorney Robert Datner said his client’s alleged conduct was “not stalking” since the public was invited to the sets on which Nagel had pictures taken with Erbe, and that she had to “accept the (e-mail) communication” he’d sent. In one letter, he said he just wanted to add her to his Christmas card list.
If convicted, Nagel — who had four aliases, including three female names — could spend five years in prison, said Robert Cardoza, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office.
