Man cleared in Gwyneth Paltrow stalking case

Gwyneth Paltrow has two children from her marriage with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin

A man charged with stalking Gwyneth Paltrow has been found not guilty.

Dante Michael Soiu, 67, from Ohio, was acquitted of felony stalking and attempted stalking by a jury at Los Angeles Superior Court.

The actress had given evidence in the case, tearfully telling the jury she had feared for her family's safety after receiving multiple letters.

In 2000, Soiu had been sent to a psychiatric facility after a previous stalking case involving the actress.

After being found not guilty in the latest case his lawyer Lynda Westlund said Soiu "just needed the right medication. He is completely lucid."

"He's unique. He's special. But ... he's very cogent," she said.

Paltrow gave evidence for three hours last week in which she claimed she was sent around 70 messages between 2009 and 2015 by Soiu.

She said the letters ranged from "religious to pornographic to threatening", and some of which some talked of her death.

She also read aloud from some of the letters, in which some expressed Mr Soiu's wish to marry her.

She said he had also sent her a cookbook, jewellery and items of clothing.

'Misinterpreted letters'

But Mr Soiu told the court he only wanted to show love and friendship and how he was not bitter about her testifying against him in the previous stalking case.

Paltrow said she had been scared by the messages "because the communications completely defy logic".

"I've been dealing for 17 years with the communications from this man," she said.

"I felt very upset by it... this has been a very long and very traumatic experience already."

In defence, Ms Westlund said her client was harmless.

She said the actress had misinterpreted his letters, many of which were biblical in nature and were therefore intended to give her a religious, not threatening message.