Lindsay Lohan challenges ruling that jailed her

Lindsay Lohan’s attorney filed legal papers on Friday seeking to spring the troubled actress from jail after she was taken into custody on a charge she violated probation by failing a random drug test.

Earlier Friday, Superior Court Judge Elden Fox denied bail for Lohan, 24, who was convicted in 2007 of drunken driving and cocaine possession. The ruling put Lohan behind bars until an October 22 hearing on whether she had consumed drugs or alcohol against court orders.

In a day of fast-changing events, Lohan’s attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, filed a writ of appeal seeking to set aside Judge Fox’s ruling. It was unclear whether or when a supervising judge might decide the matter.

Spokesmen for the Los Angeles courts and its jails said Lohan would remain behind bars for the foreseeable future and would not be released due to overcrowding, as she has been in the past.

In August, the “Mean Girls” actress served two weeks of a 90-day jail sentence and 22 more days in a residential drug treatment program when a judge ruled she violated probation for the same charge.

After being released from rehab, Lohan was subject to court-ordered drug tests. Last week, Lohan sent out a series of messages on Twitter admitting she failed a test and saying she was working to overcome her substance abuse.

“Regrettably, I did in fact fail my most recent drug test, and if I am asked, I am prepared to appear before Judge Fox,” Lohan tweeted last week.

On Monday, an arrest warrant was issued and Fox ordered her to appear on Friday in his court, where he sent her back to jail in handcuffs after a brief hearing.

Websites around the world posted a photo of Lohan in an orange, prison-issued jumpsuit, a stark contrast to the sleek black designer jacket and white skirt she wore to court Friday morning.

Independent attorneys said judges often deny bail in cases where a defendant violated probation.

“I don’t see any way that is going to get changed,” said Los Angeles defense attorney Steve Cron, who is not affiliated with any of the parties.

“She (Lohan) seemed from the beginning to have taken a very cavalier attitude that the rules don’t apply to her, but when you violate probation, there are consequences,” Cron said.

After making her mark in Disney movies like “The Parent Trap,” “Freaky Friday” and “Herbie Fully Loaded,” Lohan became a sought-after teenage star. She earned praise for her small part in director Robert Altman’s “A Prairie Home Companion.”

But soon after, Lohan began frequenting Los Angeles nightclubs and developed a reputation for partying. Her moves were documented nearly daily by the Hollywood paparazzi.

In May 2007, she crashed a Mercedes-Benz on the famed Sunset Boulevard. Police found cocaine in her car and arrested her on suspicion of drunken driving. Two months later, she was arrested again on similar charges.

Lohan pleaded no contest to two counts each of drunken driving and being under the influence of cocaine, and one count of reckless driving. She spent 84 minutes in jail, was released due to overcrowding and placed on three years probation.

Her probation was extended for a year after she missed some alcohol-education classes, and earlier this year, a judge found her guilty of violating probation by again missing such classes, leading to jail and rehab.

source: news.yahoo.com

Lindsay at restaurant Il Forno in L.A. (September 23)

Lohan released from jail after posting bail

Actress Lindsay Lohan posted a $300,000 bail and was released from jail late Friday night, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said.

A judge granted Lohan bail Friday night, overturning a decision earlier in the day that sent the actress to jail until a probation revocation hearing four weeks away, a court spokesman said.

She must be fitted with a SCRAM alcohol-detection bracelet within 24 hours, Los Angeles County Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini said.

Judge Patricia Schnegg granted Lohan’s bail after her lawyer, Shawn Chapman Holley, filed documents just before court closed Friday afternoon, Parachini said.

source: cnn.com

Lohan sent back to jail in handcuffs without bail

Lindsay Lohan returned to jail in handcuffs Friday after a judge refused to set bail and ordered her to remain in custody for failing a drug test until another hearing nearly a month away.

Bailiffs escorted the troubled starlet from the Beverly Hills courtroom immediately after the hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes. Lohan’s father, Michael Lohan, said “Oh God” as his daughter rose, looked at her attorney and was taken away.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox would not listen to arguments for bail from Lohan’s attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley.

It will be Lohan’s third jail stint for a three-year-old drug and drunken driving case filed after a pair of high-profile arrests in 2007.

Lohan has twice been released early because of overcrowding, with her longest jail stay a 14-day stint on a 90-day sentence earlier this summer.

But this time, the judge’s order diminishes the likelihood that Lohan will be released before an Oct. 22 hearing, when her positive drug test will be discussed.

“When you put the judge in a tight spot, he has no alternative,” said Barry Gerald Sands, a defense attorney who has represented celebrity clients in drug cases. “She will not get out now.”

The previous judge handling Lohan’s case had said she had to set bail for Lohan because she was facing misdemeanors, and a bondsman was sitting in the courtroom ready to post bail.

“This judge feels he didn’t have to set bail,” Sands said, adding that Fox’s orders are rarely overturned.

Fox said Lohan had a “positive test for a controlled substance,” but did not name the substance. He said probation officials are also reviewing Lohan’s compliance with other aspects of her probation, which included frequent meetings with counselors.

Holley was not immediately available for comment. Court spokesman Allan Parachini said she remained in the courtroom to confer with Lohan.

Lohan’s mother, Dina, walked into the courtroom about 45 minutes after the hearing. By then, Los Angeles police stations were following a car said to be carrying her daughter to jail.

The two women had arrived at the courthouse together an hour before, while the actress’s father — with whom she’s publicly sparred — arrived earlier.

The actress acknowledged failing a court-ordered drug screening last week in a series of Twitter postings.

It was the “Mean Girls” star’s first appearance before Fox, who had said at a previous hearing he would sentence her to a month in jail for each drug test she skipped or failed.

The actress wasn’t present for that hearing, which was held hours after her release from rehab.

Lohan seemed to acknowledge an addiction problem after news of her positive drug test broke last week.

“Substance abuse is a disease, which unfortunately doesn’t go away over night,” Lohan posted on her Twitter feed last Friday. “I am working hard to overcome it and am taking positive steps.

“This is certainly a setback for me but I am taking responsibility for my actions and I’m prepared to face the consequences,” her posts said.

The actress remains on probation for a reckless driving and two driving under the influence charges, all misdemeanors. Fox dropped two drug cases at a hearing in August during which he announced Lohan’s release from rehab and set out a strict outpatient treatment schedule that included random drug screenings.

Fox has sealed Lohan’s court file, but a source familiar with the case has told The Associated Press that the actress’ failed test came roughly two weeks after her release from rehab.

source: news.yahoo.com

Ana De Costa jewelry show in L.A. (September 22)

Lindsay at Roseark jewelry store in West Hollywood (September 22)

Lindsay shopping in Los Angeles (September 22)

Lohan reportedly drank as she tweeted confession

Lindsay Lohan certainly sounded contrite in her confessional Sept. 17 tweet, in which she admitted to failing a drug test. (“I’m taking responsibility for my actions and am prepared to face the consequences,” Lohan, 24, wrote.)

But a witness saw the star craft her statement that night on her Blackberry at Hollywood eatery Magnolia — and tells the new Us Weekly that a flippant Lohan laughed and quaffed Jack and Cokes as she typed.

Lohan composed her missive as her assistant and a male pal coached her on how to make it “more personal,” the witness recounts. “Her friend would say, ‘No, use ‘setback,’ don’t say ‘mistake.’ They’ll say you make mistakes all the time!” The friend went on, “It’s better to say you’re responsible. Denying it will just get everyone mad per usual.” Lohan’s response: “She giggled” and had her assistant order her another Jack and Coke, the Magnolia spy tells Us.

Once the final copy was sent off to her management team — Lou Taylor and Larry Rudolph, who famously helped Britney Spears clean up — Lohan wasn’t “emotional,” says the witness.

The actress, who has been to rehab four times, even joked about drinking whiskey that night, telling pals, “What are you gonna do?” I’m ill” — making air quotes with her fingers.

Us Weekly also reports that mom Dina told guests at her Sept. 17 birthday party at Madeo’s Restaurant in Roslyn Heights, N.Y., that her daughter — due in court Friday — would get off scot-free. “She said, ‘Who cares if it’s true? Our new team is like a machine. They’ll squash this.’”

source: today.msnbc.msn.com