Off Topic: Paris Hilton To Be Kept In 'Better Facility'

[locoeng]

http://www.knbc.com/entertainment/13466620/detail.html

[locoeng]

As Paris returns to jail, sheriff defends her early release
By Andrew Blankstein and Tami Abdollah
Times Staff Writers

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June 8, 2007, 7:11 PM EDT

Paris Hilton, the woman famous for being famous, tearfully returned to custody today and the furor continued over whether she should have been released.

Hours after a judge ordered Hilton returned to the Los Angeles County jail system, Sheriff Lee Baca defended his actions in ordering her released and placed under house arrest.

"The criminal justice system should not create a football out of Miss Hilton," Baca told an afternoon news conference.

He argued that Hilton's medical condition was deteriorating and that the 10% of the time she served was in line with that of other inmates released from the overcrowded jail system.

"The only thing I can detect as special treatment is her sentence," Baca said. "The special treatment appears to be her celebrity status."

In a day when Hilton's legal woes attracted more media attention than national politics and policy, the heiress was ordered back into custody, a day after she was sent to her spacious home with an electronic monitoring bracelet and became the center of a storm of protest that she was being treated better than someone less famous.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer made his ruling after an hourlong hearing that was delayed while Hilton, wearing handcuffs, was brought to court in a sheriff's patrol car. Earlier, it seemed she would take part in the hearing via telephone, but she was ordered to appear in person.

"The defendant is remanded to L.A. County Jail," Sauer ruled about 12:06 p.m. "The order is final and forthwith."

Wearing a gray zippered top, Hilton crumpled into tears.

As she was led away to the side door and the waiting transportation to jail, she wailed, "Mom, Mom! It's not right!"

Hilton was taken to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility near downtown, where she was expected to receive medical and psychological tests.

It was unclear how long she would stay in the facility's medical area. She has 17 days left on her sentence, officials said.

It was not immediately clear whether an appeal had been filed, but one was expected.

Sauer originally sentenced Hilton to 45 days in jail after the professional party girl, reality-show actress and singer repeatedly violated her probation on alcohol-related reckless driving charges.

He was insistent that Hilton serve her time, but before she even set foot in the women's jail in Lynwood, officials had cut the sentence to 23 days.

She had served a little more than three days of her sentence when Baca decided she was too ill to serve more time and sent her home under house arrest. The city attorney's office, which had prosecuted Hilton, immediately went back to court seeking Hilton's return to jail.

The release clearly peeved Sauer, who made no secret of his anger at the Sheriff's Department, repeatedly saying he was promised documents by Undersheriff Larry Waldie that spelled out why Hilton was released.

"It's 12:06 and Waldie has not provided any medical information," Sauer snapped at the attorneys.

"I never received medical documents. The sheriffs' office still has done nothing," he said.

Then he ruled that Hilton be sent to jail to fulfill her term.
There have been no details on Hilton's illness, but the judge noted: "Does that jail not have medical facilities? They have dialysis, chemotherapy, very excellent" facilities.

In a telephone interview, Baca insisted that the medical records supported his decision. He also said the medical records were in the hands of the county legal team, which could have turned them over to the judge at the hearing.

"I can't speak to what's in the judge's mind, but it appears to me at this point there is not a lot of communication," Baca said.

"This is not a normal prisoner. This is not a normal case," Baca said. "Cool heads should prevail at every level of the justice system. This is not personal to me. The Sheriff's Department has been doing all that it can to see that she serves all of her sentence."

For the city attorney's office, the ruling was a victory.

"The court very clearly ordered she is not to be released early," Assistant City Atty. Dan Jeffries said. "She is not to be released on electronic monitoring."

"The sheriff was acting like judge, jury and executioner," he said. "It is the court's job to determine what happens to Hilton."

But the Hilton affair has long since moved beyond courtroom, becoming as much of a media circus as a test case on whether wealth and notoriety buy special treatment from the judicial system.

Her earlier sojourn to the courthouse wasn't quite the scene of police chasing O.J. Simpson or even authorities bringing Reggie the alligator to his new home, but Hilton was part of the official caravan that wound its way from the Hollywood Hills to the downtown courthouse.

Some television stations accorded Hilton the honor reserved for dignitaries' departures and the mundane cases of road rage: live television coverage.

A crying Hilton sat in the back seat, wearing handcuffs and sweats. She entered a black-and-white car, No. 865, which was parked in the driveway next to one of the family cars, a Bentley. Then, the car's lights flashing, off she rode to meet her fate.

Amid an outcry that Hilton was being treated harshly because of her fame, Baca said he was prepared to enforce the sentence. He said Hilton would be treated like any other inmate.

Hilton surrendered late Sunday night to the Sheriff's Department after a surprise appearance at the MTV Movie Awards. She was taken to Lynwood's Century Regional Detention Facility. Reports quickly surfaced that she was depressed.

A little more than two hours into Thursday morning, she legally left the jail with an electronic monitoring device and orders to spend 40 days confined to her Spanish-style home. The narrow cell would fit comfortably on a small part of the house's verandah.

The furor over the release grew throughout the day as unionized sheriff's deputies, politicians and community activists complained that Hilton was being treated more generously than any other inmate.

Baca defended the decision to release Hilton for unspecified medical reasons, but the city attorney's office, which prosecuted Hilton, demanded a hearing to return Hilton to jail.

Jeffries said the reason given for Hilton's release made the case unusual and raised questions about special treatment. He said that releasing inmates because of overcrowding was common but that in his 25 years as a prosecutor, he could remember only two or three instances in which people were let go early for medical reasons. In each case, he said, the individual was extremely ill.

Paparazzi have mobbed Hilton's home and the courthouse. As Hilton prepared to leave her home this morning, what appeared to be large tarpaulins were placed over the fence to block possible photographs of her departure.

In addition to seeking Hilton's return to jail, City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo asked the court to issue an order for the Sheriff's Department to show cause why it should not be held in contempt for violating the court's sentence.

On May 4, the court ordered no electronic monitoring.

At the courthouse, it was a confusing morning. Early reports said Hilton would attend the hearing, then that she would only be connected by telephone. Finally, a court spokesman said Hilton was ordered to appear in person.

At the courthouse, there was the usual mob scene, not only of journalists, but also of people waiting to deal with traffic issues.

Rodolfo Cepeda, 41, an L.A. trucking company employee, arrived about 8:10 a.m. to pay a traffic ticket. He was one of hundreds of people waiting outside the courthouse.

"I thought it's crazy. I thought it was going to be in and out. I told them [at work] that I'd be there about 9 or 9:30, but I don't think so. I'll have to call in. There is nothing we can do. We're here already. We have to wait."

Times staff writer Michael Muskal contributed to this report.

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com

tami.abdollah@latimes.com

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/la-me-paris9jun09,0,4765853.story?page=1&coll=ny-entertainment-promo

[LT. Columbo]

all this crap is such a joke, it's international yet! i can't believe how low society and humans have become. seriously though, when i heard the judge sent her back to jail and saw that photo of her crying - that made my day! that's hot!

[cynthia]

Yes, very amazing. Can only happen in the US...

There is even a game with her and Clinkerbell 'The Prison Life'

[BR7]

all this crap is such a joke, it's international yet! i can't believe how low society and humans have become. seriously though, when i heard the judge sent her back to jail and saw that photo of her crying - that made my day! that's hot!

The last part of your post cracked me up I just can't imagine the LT saying or thinking the phrase "That's hot" .It caught me of guard when I seen it I almost choked on my chips

[LT. Columbo]

well, that's what this news does to me, it's all a big joke.

nice find cynthia btw, no time was wasted there

[olyteddy]

Off Topic: Paris Hilton To Be Kept In 'Better Facility'

The 'Green Bar Hilton'?

[doctorhardware]

If it was anybody else you would not have gotten only 45 days. You know that it would be a hell of lot longer.

[MilesAhead]

all this crap is such a joke, it's international yet! i can't believe how low society and humans have become. seriously though, when i heard the judge sent her back to jail and saw that photo of her crying - that made my day! that's hot!

I can hardly wait for the Debutantes in Chains video to hit
the internet.

[locoeng]

I got 411 and gave up...had to stamp clinkerbell. LOL

That's hot.