Mel Gibson proposes plea bargain without jail

Mel Gibson has offered a plea-bargain proposal to prosecutors in his domestic-violence case, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Blair Berk, attorney for the actor and Academy Award-winning director, offered no specifics of the proposal, which a source told People magazine would involve pleading no contest Friday to a misdemeanor battery charge over his January 2010 dispute with estranged girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. The Los Angeles Times, citing a law-enforcement source, described it as a guilty plea to misdemeanor domestic violence, a different criminal act.

Both sources said Gibson, 55, will face no jail time, and likely be ordered to undergo counseling and serve probation.

"I know from almost 20 years as a criminal defense lawyer that sometimes justice can come for a client at too high a personal price," Berk said in a statement. "Mel's only priority throughout all of this has been that the best interests of his [and Grigorieva's] young daughter Lucia and the rest of his children. . . . It is with only that in mind that he asked me to approach the district attorney with a proposal that would bring all of this to an immediate end."

Grigorieva has alleged that Gibson punched her in the head and face more than once during the altercation at his Malibu home. Gibson, in a June 2010 sworn declaration, maintained she was "hysterical" and that he slapped her "one time with an open hand in an attempt to bring her back to reality."