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Madonna's Stalker Threat: Real or Hype?
Some Say Convict Poses Little Danger to Entertainer

Much has been made this week of a Los Angeles County prosecutor's claims on a tabloid TV show that a homeless, mentally ill prison inmate convicted of stalking Madonna remains a threat to the star.

But that same Los Angeles prosecutor told APBnews.com today that, in fact, Robert Dewey Hoskins has not committed any crimes since his conviction, nor will he be charged with any further crimes, and that his legal situation is so restricted that the singer can probably sleep soundly for some time to come.

In addition, officials at the California Department of Corrections told APBnews.com that Hoskins has not made any threats toward Madonna during his time at the California Medical Facility (CMF) and that "he is well-behaved."

There is no doubt that Hoskins is an odd person with a disturbing obsession with Madonna. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1996 after he was caught trespassing on Madonna's Hollywood Hills property, threatening to cut her throat if she did not agree to marry him. Hoskins was apprehended by Madonna's bodyguard and her personal assistant. The bodyguard was armed, and in a struggle, Hoskins was shot.

He is set to be released in December 2004 and will likely serve all that time, according to prison officials and a police psychologist who has interviewed him.

On Monday, Deputy District Attorney Rhonda Saunders appeared on Access Hollywood and said, "Even though it's a couple of years later, he's still making threats against her." Making threats from prison is a crime in California.

Saunders backed away somewhat from that position today but nonetheless reiterated her belief that Hoskins is a dangerous man who should not be allowed out anytime soon. "He is still focused on Madonna," she said. "Every red flag is up."

The alleged new threats against Madonna appeared in the form of a letter Hoskins sent to his parents that now is in the possession of police psychologist Kris Mohandie.

It is not clear how Mohandie received the letter, because Hoskins "is on a mail stop, which means we monitor his mail," said Lt. Terri McDonald of the CMF. Hoskins has written letters to Madonna that he never mails, McDonald said, and those letters are "not threatening in nature." Any letters that Hoskins sends are read by prison officials and a prison investigations unit that is specifically on the lookout for anti-Madonna letters.

The letter, summarized for APBnews.com by both Saunders and Mohandie, makes a number of statements about Madonna. Hoskins believes Madonna has the ability to become other people, and that she became the bodyguard in order to shoot him. "She shot me and I'm pissed off," Saunders said the letter stated.

"He still believes that he's married to her and that when he gets out he's planning on drawing more attention to these issues," Mohandie said of the letter.

"There's a difference between making a threat and posing a threat. Many people make threats and don't make good on them; many people don't make threats but can pose a threat. He's a little of both," Mohandie said. "He also said [in an interview with Mohandie] he would take a rifle -- he's a felon and can't possess a firearm -- and try and shoot down the stars [in the sky]. His belief is that [celebrities] here on earth reside in the stars in heaven. ... There might be a nexus between these ideas and this obsession" when he gets out.

But the psychologist also stressed this: "I'm not making any predictions about what he's going to do when he gets out. Just that the most recent eyeballs on him suggest that he's still a major concern."

But Hoskins is not imminently dangerous, Mohandie said. Prisoners at CMF who are judged to be imminently dangerous can be medicated and treated against their will. Hoskins has not behaved in a way requiring forced treatment.

Mohandie said his evaluation of Hoskins was not done for official risk-assessment reasons but for "law enforcement training purposes," he said.

Four years from now, when Hoskins is about to be released, he will be evaluated officially by a prison psychologist. Prosecutors then can apply to have Hoskins held in custody for one year after his release date, and can reapply to extend his sentence every following year. That will probably happen, according to Saunders.

But Saunders and Mohandie's belief that Hoskins remains a dangerous person is not shared by the prison system. "He is well-behaved," said McDonald. "The only thing he won't do, he gets disciplinaries for refusal to comply with the grooming standards [by not cutting his hair or beard]. It's a serious disciplinary for which he can get loss-of-behavior credits. It reduces any kind of privileges" and extends the time he must spend in prison.

He is not making threats "through the mail or via the telephone," said McDonald. "At this point he doesn't even have access to a phone."

McDonald also was unaware of Saunders' claims on Access Hollywood. "I couldn't even speculate on why she said that. ... I really would have to defer that to her."

Regardless of his delusions, Mohandie does not believe Madonna has anything to fear from Hoskins. Because he's in prison, because prosecutors will seek to keep him there, and because of Madonna's "great" security, Mohandie said that even if he wanted to, Hoskins has no chance of getting anywhere near her. "I don't know that he would go after her versus someone else," Mohandie said.

Saunders, however, said that California stalking law makes threats -- both real and implied -- illegal, and she believes the letter and Mohandie's interview with Hoskins, which he videotaped, will meet the standard for keeping him locked up. In the meantime, Saunders did make it clear that "we are not accusing him of a crime, nor are we arresting him."

Saunders added that she hopes to "rewrite" the stalking law to make it tighter.

Hoskins' attorney, public defender John Myers, seemed weary of dealing with the issue when contacted by APBnews.com. Is Hoskins a threat to Madonna? "I don't think so, but I'm not a psychologist," he said. "It seems to me he knew what was going on; he was just trespassing."

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