Actress accused of stalking Alec Baldwin is upbeat

NEW YORK (AP) - A Canadian actress accused of stalking Alec Baldwin was upbeat Monday about the case as her lawyer said she had a legitimate reason for contacting the star.

“I’m confident that my lawyers are going to solve this,” Genevieve Sabourin said after a brief, procedural appearance in a Manhattan court.

Baldwin, 54, and Sabourin, 40, met on the set of the 2002 sci-fi comedy “The Adventures of Pluto Nash,” in which he had a cameo and she was a publicist. Baldwin told authorities they had dinner together in the fall of 2010.

Sabourin was arrested last month after authorities said she sent the “30 Rock” star a series of emails imploring him to see and to marry her _ emails allegedly sent days after Baldwin became engaged to yoga instructor Hilaria Thomas.

One of Sabourin’s messages envisioned the actor as her future “husband,” while another described “creating Genevieve Baldwin,” the complaint said. Authorities said she also showed up at a screening he was hosting and at Baldwin’s apartment building, where she was arrested April 8 on misdemeanor stalking and harassment charges.

“I just came over to see Alec because I need to speak with him,” she told police, according to a court document filed late last month. She also is believed to have turned up unannounced at his home in the Hamptons in March.

But defense lawyer Maurice Sercarz said Sabourin had a relationship with the actor, but he wouldn’t describe the ties between the two. A prior Sabourin lawyer said they had a two-year “mutual relationship.”

“There was no effort at harassment, and there was no stalking here,” Sercarz said after the court hearing. “My client had a legitimate purpose for her efforts to contact Mr. Baldwin.”

Baldwin’s publicist declined to comment Monday.

Baldwin and Thomas, 28, began dating last year. Baldwin previously was married to actress Kim Basinger; they have a daughter, Ireland.

Sabourin’s family is from Candiac, a suburb of Montreal. She has appeared in some Canadian films and TV series. Speaking in French and English after court Monday, she said she’d recently been working on various projects, including a screenplay, but was focusing on her defense.

“I guess this will be my job for now,” she said.

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