Paris sentenced to 23 days in celebrity prison
 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070505/...aris_hilton_55

A judge sentenced Paris Hilton to 45 days in county jail Friday for violating her probation, putting the brakes on the hotel heiress' famous high life.

Hilton, who parlayed her name and relentless partying into worldwide notoriety, must go to jail by June 5 and she will not be allowed any work release, furloughs, use of an alternative jail or electronic monitoring in lieu of jail, Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer ruled after a hearing.

The judge, saying "there's no doubt she knew her license had been suspended," ruled that she was in violation of the terms of her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

"I'm very sorry and from now on I'm going to pay complete attention to everything. I'm sorry and I did not do it on purpose at all," she told the judge before he announced the sentence.

She was then ordered to report to a women's jail in suburban Lynwood by the set date or face 90 days behind bars. The judge's ruling excluded her from paying to serve time in a jail of her choice, as some are allowed.

Hilton was among a series of witnesses who took the stand during the hearing. She testified she believed her license was initially suspended for 30 days and that she was allowed to drive for work purposes during the next 90 days.

She said that when an officer who stopped her in January made her sign a document stating her license was suspended, she thought he was mistaken and did not actually look at the document.

Also called to the stand was Hilton's spokesman, Elliot Mintz. Hilton and her attorneys characterized Mintz as a liaison between Hilton and her lawyers.

Mintz testified that to his knowledge Hilton did not drive during the 30-day period. He said he then advised her that he believed her license was no longer suspended.

The judge called Mintz's testimony worthless and expressed disbelief at Hilton's lawyers.

"I can't believe that either attorney did not tell her that the suspension had been upheld," the judge said. "She wanted to disregard everything that was said and continue to drive no matter what."

As a city prosecutor said during closing arguments that Hilton deserved jail time, Hilton's mother, Kathy, laughed. When the judge ruled, Kathy Hilton then blurted out: "May I have your autograph?"

Paris Hilton looked forward and didn't speak to news media as she left court. Her mother looked upset.

When a reporter asked what she thought of the judge's decision, a visibly angry Kathy Hilton responded: "What do you think? This is pathetic and disgusting, a waste of taxpayer money with all this nonsense. This is a joke."

Defense attorney Howard Weitzman said he would appeal.

"I'm shocked, I'm surprised and really disheartened in the system that I've worked in for close to 40 years," Weitzman said.

He said the sentence was "uncalled for, inappropriate and bordered on the ludicrous."

"I think she's singled out because of who she is," Weitzman said.

Hilton had arrived at the Metropolitan Courthouse 10 minutes late and ignored screams of photographers as she swept in with her attorneys, mother and father, Rick Hilton. Wearing a gray jacket and white shirt over black slacks and with a black headband on, she said nothing and appeared serious.

The celebrity case brought an unusual scene to the austere courthouse south of downtown in a commercial area. As if at a red carpet event, dozens of photographers and reporters lined up at the rear entrance. Yellow police tape substituted for velvet ropes.

Hilton, 26, pleaded no contest in January to reckless driving stemming from a Sept. 7 arrest in Hollywood. Police said she appeared intoxicated and failed a field sobriety test. She had a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent, the level at which an adult driver is in violation of the law.

She was sentenced to 36 months probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines.

Two other traffic stops and failure to enroll in a mandated alcohol education program, are what landed the socialite back in court.

On Jan. 15, Hilton was pulled over by California Highway Patrol. Officers informed her that she was driving on a suspended license and she signed a document acknowledging that she was not to drive, according to papers filed in Superior Court.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies stopped Hilton on Feb. 27 and charged her with violating her probation. Police said she was pulled over at about 11 p.m. after authorities saw the car speeding with its headlights off.

Mintz said at the time Hilton wasn't aware her license was suspended. A copy of the document Hilton signed on Jan. 15 was found in the car's glove compartment, court papers say.

Hilton was also required to enroll in an alcohol education program by Feb. 12. As of April 17, she had not enrolled, prosecutors said.

Hilton, heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune, first gained notoriety for her hard partying as a teen. She attracted worldwide attention when a sex tape she made with a boyfriend was released on the Internet.

She stars in the reality-TV series, "The Simple Life," now in its fifth season, with Nicole Richie. She appeared in the 2005 film, "House of Wax" and recently finished filming "The Hottie and the Nottie." She also is a handbag designer and has a namesake perfume.

I suppose if you succeed at failing, you're still a success, in a sense.

Sometimes I cry for us, guys. Our chances of survival are slim when we pay attention to people like this.

I cry too, Volt. More for the reason that kids actually want to BE like her than the fact that we pay attention to her. There was even a special news report in my area when she visited Australia, and they talked to some girls who said how she was "soooo pretty" and such. Awful. Just awful... *shakes her head*

At least I can openly laugh out loud at her. Finally, someone has hauled her to jail, something that has been on my "to do list" for a few years now. It's only 45 days, but who cares? She's in jail, where hopefully she will be forgotten by the world and we can get on with our normal, every day lives.

Then again, she'll be back. They always come back... *shudders*

There's gonna be some kinda show about this, I just know it...

Good. She should have gone to jail. Anyone else would have. That part of the article where they say it was too harsh and all that 'because of who she is' was just annoying. 'Anyone else' would have gotten more time, probably, and certainly won't be in a cushy place, like I'm sure she will be.

:lol: Awesome! She deserves it.. Guess she's not all perfect after all.

in the timeless words of martha stewart: "it's a good thing."

That is so unfair!!!

j/k



I bet there will be a surge in parents naming their child "Paris".

20 years from now Paris will be a popular name....just watch.

Why the hell did I read the thread title as 'Paris sentenced to death'?

Well, good to see the little princess isn't above the law. I'm sure her 'jailtime' will be a cakewalk though.

Michael Jackson's daughter is named Paris....but not after Paris Hilton...nope...she's named after the city...cuz that's where she was concieved...*shudders* :roll:

Ugh, I wouldn't be surprised if that happened 10 years from now. Some girls in my grade practically worship her...but what the frack has she done?! All the more reason why I am so happy to see her being hauled to jail. And all the more reason why I love that Paris Hilton episode on South Park... :lol:

just like martha in jail.. this shall be easy for her.

Yes.

Since you all love seeing people get what they "deserve," I'm sure you look forward to the day karma comes back and bites you in the ass for taking pleasure in other people's pain.

actually, i think that's exactly what happened. karma came and bit her in the ass. :P

*sigh*

Forget it. Yay. Something bad happened to someone you don't like. Break out the party favors.

i don't have to dislike her, hahha. she's got nothing to do with me and i don't know her. all i know her by is her actions, and i wasn't even referring to that. notice i said in the words of martha stewart, i was just drawing a comparison between the two. calm down calm down.

Calm down? I'm not terribly excited in the first place. Disappointed is more the word I'd use.

Iris, I don't think a lot of people are excited that she is going to jail. Someone else said earlier what we were all thinking:

So people are happy that money can't buy your way out of jail (sometimes).

Sounds like Iris is a closet Paris Hilton fan. ;)

ANYWAYS, I'm not a big fan of Paris, but I also don't dislike her. Yeah, she gets all this media attention and she's dumb and blah blah blah, but I don't watch TV, so I never have to deal with it. People who complain about celebrities need to realize they look like jealous little children when they do so.

And really...I found the Simple Life pretty entertaining. My girlfriend loves it, so we would often watch it together. But maybe the entertainment came more from spending time with her and seeing her laugh than anything else.

Exactly. this will be like a vacation for her almost. As to how I feel about it? Good. I don't care for her too much, and it's good to see that she isn't special and gets arrested just like everyone else, as someone mentioned.

Of course people break out the party favors when someone they don't like have something bad happen to them. It's human nature. If both of her parents were murdered in an extremely sadistic way I don't think that a lot of people would cheer for that.

For me, I can't stand Paris Hilton and hell yea she got what she deserves. My sister is obsessed with her and I can't stand it. Most of the people in my home town can't stand her either. I remember working at the theater there when the wax house came out. The first showing was great because when it got to the part where she got the pipe thrown through her forehead the entire theater cheered. People cheered every time. It was great :lol:.