Celebrity Cuts No Ice with CA Judge, Who Sends Paris Hilton Back to Jail
At a scheduled hearing today about whether Paris Hilton should be sent back to jail to serve a 45-day sentence for repeatedly violating her probation in an alcohol-related traffic case, Judge Michael T. Sauer made no secret of his displeasure with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office. It had released Hilton to home confinement in upscale Hollywood Hills despite a prior court order saying that she must be jailed, due to an undisclosed medical condition. But, a few minutes after noon Pacific time, the judge said he had received no evidence of what ailed the the 26-year-old hotel heiress and sent her back to jail.
Hilton, who was bereft of her trademark pancake make-up and had been biting her nails and rocking back and forth during the hearing, reacted hysterically. According to a Fox News broadcast from outside the Los Angeles Superior Court courthouse shortly afterward, she then began screaming, crying and calling for her mother.
Her initial release from jail after three days angered many, who saw it as an example of special treatment accorded to a wealthy celebrity. Hilton, perhaps best-known as a party girl rather than for any particular talent, has nonetheless attracted an enormous amount of publicity over various escapades. The prosecution says the circumstances of her release are highly unusual, reports the Los Angeles Times. While it is commonplace to release inmates due to overcrowding, Assistant City Attorney Dan Jeffries told the paper, he could only recall a couple of instances in 25 years as a prosecutor where prisoners were released early for medical reasons. All involved extremely ill individuals, he said.
