Gibson in court for custody hearing

Mel Gibson appeared in court for the first time for a custody hearing involving his baby daughter with his estranged ex-girlfriend.

The Oscar-winning actor arrived in Los Angeles for the all-day session about 10 minutes before Russian musician Oksana Grigorieva, escorted by deputies.

He remained out of sight during a lengthy morning break, but walked calmly through the court with his lawyers to and from a luncheon strategy session.

'Lethal Weapon' star Gibson did not speak to reporters outside Judge Scott Gordon’s closely guarded courtroom. By law, the custody proceedings are closed to the public and the case file is sealed.

At least part of yesterday’s session was spent addressing the release of information about the case, but lawyers for both sides declined to comment in detail about what occurred. They will reconvene on November 22.

“We’re not going to talk out of respect for the nature of the proceedings,” Ms Grigorieva’s lawyer, Daniel Horowitz said.

Judge Gordon has convened several hearings in the case and ruled last month that sheriff’s detectives should have unfettered access to information obtained from Ms Grigorieva’s computer.

The department is investigating claims by Gibson that his ex-girlfriend attempted to blackmail him after their break-up.

Detectives also looked into allegations by Ms Grigorieva that the actor-director abused her during a fight in January, although she waited months to report the incident.

Potential evidence in that inquiry has been turned over to prosecutors, but no charges have been filed.

Gibson’s divorce from his wife of 28 years is still proceeding.