Granite Bay party that broke COVID rules ‘wasn’t supposed to be a big affair,’ lawyer says

The host of a New Year’s Eve party at actor Eddie Murphy’s former mansion in Granite Bay never intended to have 100 people in his house, the man’s lawyer said Wednesday.

“It wasn’t supposed to be a big affair,” said Mark Reichel, the attorney for Gabriel Watters, who lives at the home.

The party came under heavy criticism on social media as it flouted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home orders and pleas from various elected officials and health officials to avoid large gatherings as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens.

Reichel said the event was supposed to be a small gathering of friends, but it quickly mushroomed as guests texted friends or spread the word on social media. In terms of crowd size, it was “out of control by midnight,” Reichel said.

Reichel said Watters spent much of the evening “trying to stop people from coming” and actually had three of the guests’ cars towed away. Most of the guests were strangers to Watters, he said.

“Other than the unhealthy aspect of the gathering, it was a typical New Year’s Eve party — actually rather subdued,” Reichel said.

Placer County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the party because of a complaint about noise, but issued no citations or tried to break up the party. Sheriff Devon Bell, like many sheriffs around California, has said he wouldn’t have his deputies enforcing stay-at-home orders during the pandemic.

His spokeswoman Angela Musallam reiterated that stance Wednesday. “That’s not our job,” she said.