CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
October 7, 2009 | By Richard Winton
The cameras were rolling, but actor and director Mel Gibson was nowhere to be seen at the Malibu courthouse Tuesday. In a brief hearing held at the Oscar winner's request, a judge agreed to expunge Gibson's drunk-driving conviction. The initial arrest made headlines when the star was reported to have made anti-Semitic comments to a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy. "He does not appear to be on any sort of probation or facing any similar charges," Judge Lawrence J. Mira said as a videographer for a celebrity news website taped the proceeding.