Actor’s Son Gets Probation in Assault : Courts: Sam Griffith of North Hollywood pleads no contest to abusing wife. Two felony charges are dismissed.

The 34-year-old son of actor Andy Griffith was placed on probation Thursday after he admitted in court that he beat his pregnant wife.

Sam Griffith, a North Hollywood real estate investor, pleaded no contest--the equivalent of a guilty plea in criminal proceedings--to two misdemeanor counts of assault.

In addition to placing Griffith on three years unsupervised probation, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge James M. Coleman sentenced him to the 90 days he had already served in jail awaiting trial in the case.

Prosecutors, saying they had doubts about whether a jury would believe Griffith’s estranged wife, Renee, dismissed felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon and negligently discharging a firearm in exchange for the no-contest plea.

If convicted of all four charges, Griffith could have been imprisoned for 12 years.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeffrey S. Gootman said in court that prosecutors agreed to the plea bargain because “the veracity of the victim in this case is called into question” by new information.

At a preliminary hearing March 26, Renee Griffith, 28, testified that her husband hit her in the face and arms and kicked her in the stomach in mid-December and again on Jan. 6. The couple were married in November.

She said he broke the middle finger on her left hand and that she had an abortion Jan. 8 out of fear that the fetus had been injured by her husband.

But medical records placed into evidence indicate she could have carried the fetus to term, Gootman acknowledged Thursday.

She also said that during another argument, her husband fired a shotgun at a North Hollywood park. Gootman said police could find no corroboration for the charge.

Renee Griffith also produced photographs at the preliminary hearing that showed her body heavily bruised.

During cross-examination, defense attorney James E. Blatt raised the possibility that the injuries resulted from a car crash in Colorado. She insisted that she suffered no injuries in the accident.

But both Blatt and Gootman agreed Thursday that newly obtained Colorado hospital records suggest she was injured.

Renee Griffith could not be reached for comment Thursday. Her attorney, Paul J. Fitzgerald, did not return calls.

Fitzgerald said earlier that a civil suit against Griffith was likely in the case.

The couple are in the process of getting a divorce, he said.