Woman Not Guilty in Spat With Neighbor

A Studio City woman who had been the focus of a neighborhood dispute over the condition of her home was found innocent Monday of charges stemming from a confrontation with a neighbor.

A Van Nuys Municipal Court jury found Leigh White, 62, not guilty of two counts of battery and one count of disturbing the peace, both misdemeanors.

White was accused of pushing a shopping cart into her next-door neighbor, Cheryl Shuman, during an argument May 8 over the shoddy condition of White’s home and property. Shuman fell and suffered a bruised knee.

Shuman also alleged that White knocked her down May 19 after White accused her of stealing a fence. Shuman was five months pregnant at the time.

Deputy City Atty. David S. Kestenbaum said the incidents had made Shuman, wife of KNBC television news reporter Phil Shuman, a prisoner in her own home.

Pushing Denied

During the four-day trial, White denied that she pushed Shuman on either occasion. Some witnesses said it appeared that Shuman was confronting White at the time, according to White’s attorney, Stuart Chapman.

The Shumans “overstepped the bounds of normal unhappiness to the extent that the jury believed they were biased against my client,� Chapman said.

White’s neighbors have complained for nine years that her home on Van Noord Avenue was a health and safety hazard. A fire damaged the $400,000 home in 1984, forcing utilities to be shut off. City officials last year ordered the home cleaned up.

Kestenbaum said the repair work on White’s home was completed after White’s daughter obtained control of the property. He said there are no building or safety code violations on the property now.

Phil Shuman declined comment on the verdict.