Report: Gibson makes plea deal

LOS ANGELES, March 9 (UPI) -- Mel Gibson has made a deal with Los Angeles prosecutors and will plead no contest to a battery charge in exchange for no jail time, a source told People.com.

The misdemeanor stems from an altercation the actor-director allegedly had in January 2010 with his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, with whom he has a toddler-age daughter.

The source told People.com Gibson agreed Wednesday to enter the plea Friday in the domestic-violence case to prevent a lengthy court battle.

"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," Gibson's lawyer, Blair Berk, said in a statement Wednesday. "That is particularly so for Mel, whose right to due process can only be exercised in this case with an enormous media circus attached. Mel's priority throughout all of this has been that the best interests of his young daughter Lucia and the rest of his children be put first in any decisions made. 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."

Gibson, star of "Lethal Weapon" and "Braveheart," has become a polarizing figure in Hollywood after making anti-Semitic remarks to a police officer during a drunken driving arrest several years ago. He has since apologized for his behavior.

Audio of Gibson allegedly uttering racial slurs during the heated argument with Grigorieva hit the Internet last summer, further tarnishing Gibson's reputation.