Lawyer: Ruffalo Died Playing With Gun

Dec. 10, 2008— -- The Saudi princess arrested in connection with the shooting death of Scott Ruffalo was released Tuesday night after police saw evidence that his wound was self-inflicted and the result of playing with a gun, her attorney told The Associated Press.

ABC News has confirmed that Shaha Mishaal Adham, 26, was released from the Beverly Hills jail Tuesday night for what police records say was "insufficient evidence, per the warrant."

Attorney Ronald Richards said, according to the AP, that he presented evidence to detectives during a five-hour meeting Tuesday night that proved Adham did not shoot Scott Ruffalo, brother of actor Mark Ruffalo, early Dec. 1.

He said that Scott Ruffalo's gunshot wound to the head was self-inflicted and that Adham was "essentially a witness to a game of Russian Roulette," he told the AP.

"This was an accidental shooting by someone that plays with guns," Richards said.

Richards said Adham, a friend of Scott Ruffalo's, had gone to the hairdresser's condo to retrieve keys to her sport utility vehicle and then left.

"A series of wrong decisions starting with her not staying at the scene of the shooting caused an incredible chain reaction of stupidity and bad luck," Richards told the AP. He said she received poor legal advice from other attorneys before her surrender.

Richards said no charges would be pursued against Adham, the AP reported. A police sergeant said more information would be released today, the day Adham and Brian B. Scofield, a man formerly considered a person of interest in the shooting investigation, were due to be in court.

Portrait of a Princess

Adham is a descendant of the Saudi royal family. Her grandfather Sheikh Kamal Adham was the half-brother of Princess Iffat, widow of King Faisal. She led a privileged early life, attending the prestigious all girls Marlborough School in Los Angeles before transferring to Harvard Westlake, another exclusive private school.

But things appear to have gone south for Adham around 2006. That was the year her parents, Hussa and Mishaal, legally separated. In 2006, Mishaal, who is listed as a director of a contracting firm in Saudi Arabia, was convicted of driving a vehicle without the owner's consent, forced to pay a series of fines and do 60 hours of community service.

Adham now seems to be estranged from her family. Reached by telephone, her brother-in-law Eduardo Burillo said he hadn't "seen [Adham] in over two years." And a man who answered the phone at the Beverly Hills residence listed in the name of her parents said Adham hasn't been in contact with them for at least "five to seven years."

Court documents show Adham's landlord attempted to evict her from her Beverly Hills apartment twice in 2008.

That's quite a departure for a girl whose upbringing was fit for a princess, according to Mark Ebner, who interviewed Adham's older sister, Sharifa, for his book "The Six Degrees of Paris Hilton."

"One of her classmates told me she would constantly have bodyguards stationed outside her classroom," Ebner said.

Asked if Adham hung out in the same crowd as socialite-celebrity Hilton, Ebner said, "They're all in the same circle," and noted that Adham's older sister dated heir Brandon Davis for "a number of years" during high school, before he dated Hilton.

Connection Between Adham and Ruffalo Unclear

Last week, police identified Adham and Scofield as "persons of interest" in the shooting investigation. Scott Ruffalo, 39, was shot in the head Dec. 1 at his condo. He died late Monday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to Beverly Hills Police Sgt. Renato Moreno.

Mark Ruffalo, star of films "13 Going on 30," "Zodiac" and "You Can Count on Me," had been at his brother's bedside since the shooting, according to his publicist Jessica Kolstad.

After Scott Ruffalo's shooting, a portrait of the man emerged. A well-known and successful hairdresser, Ruffalo worked at salons in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, including, most recently, the Giuseppe Franco Salon in Beverly Hills.

He held a license in cosmetology since 1991, and in 2001 he set up his own corporation -- Ruff Inc. -- that took in his lucrative income as a hairstylist.

"He is well-liked by everybody and knows everyone in Beverly Hills," his accountant James Leger told ABCNews.com last week. "He was a guy who really wanted to do things right, as far as I was concerned. He is one of the easiest clients I have. He's 100 percent above board and would go overboard to make sure everything is done right."

Scott Ruffalo's Death

But Scott Ruffalo did have one encounter with the law. In April 2002, he was convicted of a felony charge for possession of a controlled substance for sale. A second charge, possession of a narcotic controlled substance, was dismissed.

Scott Ruffalo's shooting came as a shock to those who know him.

"It's really strange," Leger said. "This is obviously not just a break-in. Robbers don't just routinely go to Beverly Hills in the middle of the night."

Neighbor Yelena Shekhtman told ABCNews.com that the building is "very secure." Even though she lives close by, she said she heard no sounds of gunshots or a scuffle. She only knew something had gone wrong when police knocked on her door at 4 a.m. that morning.

That such violence could occur right down the hall has shaken Shekhtman. "It's not safe now, living in Beverly Hills," she said.

According to documents, Scott Ruffalo was married to Luzelena Ruffalo, and news reports say he was the stepfather to her daughter Lucinda. But Shekhtman said Scott Ruffalo lived alone, although she did see him periodically with a woman she assumed was his girlfriend.

Reached at their home in La Jolla, Scott Ruffalo's parents, Frank and Marie Rose, declined to comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report