By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A man accused of robbing actors Kirsten Dunst and Simon Pegg may be odd and “a little mongoloid,” but he did not heist a designer handbag and other luxury items from the pair in 2007, his lawyer maintained in his closing argument on Thursday.
James Jiminez, 36, along with Jarrod Beinerman, is accused of swiping a Balenciaga handbag, a Marc Jacobs wallet, an iPod, a digital camera and $2,000 from the SoHo Grand suite the two shared while shooting the movie "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People."
Beinerman, who Jiminez and his lawyer say is a drug dealer, has already pleaded guilty to the theft. Jimenez’s September 2009 trial ended in a hung jury, necessitating a retrial.
“I’ll tell him to his face he’s a little odd but that’s not enough to convict somebody,” defense attorney Robert Parker said of his client, Jimenez.
“He is myopic, you might even say a little mongoloid,” Parker added before the jury began deliberations at 1 p.m.
Parker contended that Jiminez was merely along for the ride when his alleged accomplice, Beinerman, was invited to the celebrities’ penthouse suite by a member of the film crew.
Parker said the DA only pursued the case so aggressively because of who the victims were.
“They wouldn't prosecute this case to the extent that they did if it wasn’t Kirsten Dunst,” he argued.
Prosecutors said surveillance video showing Jimenez leaving the hotel with a white NoBu take-out bag filled with the stolen goods is proof enough to convict him.
“I don’t care whose hotel room it was — it could be Joe Shmoe,” Assistant District Attorney Patricia Stolfi-Collins said.
“You do not have permission to walk into someone's private room and take their property,” she added.
