EXHIBIT A

Mel Gibson Tapes and California Law

California law makes it unclear.

Mel Gibson's career is effectively over, but his legal woes may just be beginning. Los Angeles County sheriff's officials are launching a domestic-violence probe into whether or not Gibson assaulted ex Oksana Grigorieva. In one of the now-infamous recorded phone calls made to Grigorieva that were leaked onto the Internet by RadarOnline, Gibson purportedly admits to hitting her, telling her that she "deserved" it. The conversation, in which Gibson hurled derogatory remarks at Grigorieva, was secretly recorded. Under California law, in order for such a conversation to be permissible in court both parties have to have consented to its recording, but surreptitious recordings may be used in cases involving victims of violence. "If she falls in that exception, then [the] recording is, in fact, admissible," Dmitry Gorin, a defense attorney, told The Los Angeles Times.