Judge Orders Paris Hilton to Appear in Court
By MARIA NEWMAN
Published: June 8, 2007
Paris Hilton was on her way to a Los Angeles court after a judge ordered a police car to pick her up from her house, saying she could not testify by telephone, as her lawyers had requested, at a hearing over her early release from jail.
The decision by Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer was announced after he heard this morning from the heiress’ lawyer and from the city attorney’s office, where officials were clearly surprised to learn on Thursday that Ms. Hilton was released from the county jail after serving less than three days of her 23 day sentence.
The hearing was suspended while the judge awaited the arrival of the celebrity, who is famous for being famous. The by-now familiar celebrity justice watch was in full swing, as television news stations broadcasted Ms. Hilton’s ride back to court.
Earlier, they had staked out Ms. Hilton’s Hollywood Hills mansion, broadcasting live scenes of the sheriffs department police cars pulling up at the front door and supporters waving signs saying “We love you, Paris.” The networks showed a car pulling out of the driveway with a handcuffed Ms. Hilton in the back seat, as overhead, news helicopters followed.
The drama began Thursday morning, when Sheriff Lee Baca allowed Ms. Hilton to be released from jail and placed under house arrest because of what he described as an unspecified “medical condition.” Some celebrity blogs reported that Ms. Hilton was suffering from a rash, while others that she had been crying and ringing the medical alert button in her cell all night
Ms. Hilton had been sentenced to 45 days in jail after repeatedly violating the terms of her probation on alcohol-related reckless driving charges from an incident last year. Sheriff’s office officials had said she would probably spend about 23 days behind bars because of automatic credits for good behavior.
The decision by the Sheriff to release Ms. Hilton early set off a furor, especially with City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who heard about the release in the news media like everybody else. His office filed papers by the evening with the judge, who originally had sentenced the heiress to 45 days in jail, requesting that the county sheriff’s department return Ms. Hilton to custody. The city attorney’s office also asked that the sheriff’s department show why it should not be held in contempt of court for letting her go, or “reassigning” her, in the first place.
“We cannot tolerate a two-tiered jail system where the rich and powerful receive special treatment,” said Mr. Delgadillo, the prosecutor who handled the case.
Ms. Hilton’s early release caused outrage, not only in legal circles, but also among critics on television, blogs and other websites.
On The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck sounded off on the early release, calling Ms. Hilton’s transfer "disgusting." She said it sends a message that "if you’re rich and you’re hot" then "we’ll let you off the hook."
The county supervisor, Don Knabe, told The Associated Press: “What transpired here is outrageous.” He said he received more than 400 angry e-mails and hundreds more phone calls from around the country.
Ms. Hilton’s return home gives the impression of “celebrity justice being handed out,” he said.
City attorney spokesman Nick Velasquez said earlier Thursday that the office had been “inundated with calls and emails form people,” with “100 percent of them” angry about Hilton’s release.
Mr. Delgadillo said that no one had shown that Ms. Hilton suffered from any malady that could not be treated while she was serving her sentence. “Los Angeles County Jail medical facilities are well-equipped to deal with medical situations involving inmates,” he added.
Meanwhile, sheriff’s department spokesman Steve Whitmore told KNBC-TV that the contempt accusation “appears to be another Rocky Delgadillo press stunt.”
“We’ve examined documents and will respond accordingly in court,” he said.
But even within the sheriff’s department, others disagreed. Steve Remige, president of the Association of Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs, told KNBC that the system definitely worked in Ms. Hilton’s favor.
“It appears that in Los Angeles County, if you are a wealthy individual or famous individual, that you are getting preferential treatment in the county jail system, in the county criminal system,” Remige said.
The news of whether the wealthy Ms. Hilton would serve time for her DUI-related arrest dominated news coverage today.
At CNN, the news was breaking during the cable news network’s daily CNN International news hour. The Paris story led the show after one commercial break, coming even before updates on the G8 Summit and Italy’s Rendition Trial.
“It’s the kind of day where we’ll always have Paris,” Stephen Frazier, one of the anchors, said, trying for a wry delivery.”
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