Lindsay Lohan in probation 'home stretch,' judge says

Lindsay Lohan had another positive day in court Wednesday, with Judge Stephanie Sautner saying she's in the "home stretch" of a probation saga that dates to 2007.

Lohan has 14 days of community service — that's morgue duty — and five more therapy sessions to complete before March 29, the target date the judge laid out when she finally sentenced the actress to "structure" (plus a little jail time) back in November. Rather than dumping a lump sum of probation duties on Lohan as had been done in the past, Sautner laid out a structured path to be completed in monthly increments. 

It seems to be working.

"Miss Lohan, you're in the home stretch," Sautner told Lohan at the Airport Courthouse, where she'd shown up with attorney Shawn Chapman Holley for a probation progress check, L.A. Now reported. "You seem to be getting your life back on track."

Lohan was to fulfill her community service and therapy requirements in regular monthly chunks, the judge decided in November.

If everything's completed by the next hearing, March 29, the remnants of Lohan's 2007 DUI convictions will "go bye-bye," the judge said Wednesday, and her probation for misdemeanor theft in 2011 will be converted to summary probation, in which she doesn't have to meet with a probation officer. She'd still have to avoid breaking any laws, however.

Though she's still on the hook for five more weeks, Lohan can — with her probation officer's permission — head to New York for a spot of work early in March. It was announced Tuesday that she's going to host "Saturday Night Live" for the first time since 2006.

Lohan's also been cast to play a young Elizabeth Taylor in a made-for-TV flick for Lifetime, TMZ said Tuesday.

What a difference some structure makes?

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— Christie D'Zurilla
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Photos: Lindsay Lohan in court, left, and being photographed as she leaves the Airport Courthouse in L.A. on Wednesday. Credits: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images, left; Michael Nelson / EPA, right.

 

 

 

 

Lindsay Lohan 'likes to come here and see me,' judge teases

For Lindsay Lohan, what a difference 12 days makes -- 12 days of community service, that is, done ahead of a court-ordered probation schedule, with an extra day of therapy thrown in for good measure.

Lohan smiled several times in court Wednesday and once covered her face with her hands in a girlish display of happy embarrassment, visible on a live TMZ camera feed from the courtroom, when Judge Stephanie Sautner teased, "I think she likes to come here and see me. I think that's motivation."

Lohan attorney Shawn Chapman Holley had asked if, in the future, her client need not appear in person if the requirements had been met. That request was denied -- perhaps in line with what TMZ reported was a previous argument by the lawyer that the judge should provide "rigid structure" to help Lindsay succeed.

There was no fancy hair or fancy outfit for Lilo the day after her late return from Hawaii. In the wake of that vacation, which was for her sister's birthday, Holley also got specific with Sautner about travel rules as her client completes probation. Lohan had been instructed that she could leave the state for work or to spend holidays with family, with her probation officer's OK.

"You cannot leave the state except for work" between court appearances unless the required community service and counseling are done, Sautner told Lohan. However, once the minimum is done each month, she can travel "for pleasure, for any reason ... to go to a spa."

That said, Sautner suggested, another option was to do more morgue duty than required each month, "and then perhaps we can end this in February."

Lohan is fulfilling requirements related to a no contest plea to misdemeanor theft in May. She was sentenced to jail and a new probation schedule was laid out after her probation was revoked in October, and has 270 days behind bars looming over her if she blows this probation.

Her next court date is in mid-January.

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Photo: Lindsay Lohan smiles during a hearing at the Airport Branch Courthouse in L.A. on Wednesday. Credit: Michael Nelson / European Pressphoto Agency

Lindsay Lohan sentenced to 'structure' — and 30 days in jail

Lindsay Lohan wore black to court on Wednesday, where she admitted violating probation and then said "Yes, your honor" to a sentence of 30 days in jail followed by a strictly structured schedule of therapy and community service.

"This is what you really call putting the keys to the jail in the defendant's pockets," Judge Stephanie Sautner said after detailing the terms of the new sentence to Lohan, who made more eye contact with the judge than has previously been evident on live camera feeds from the courthouse.

Though Sautner ruled out house arrest or electronic monitoring in lieu of jail, Lohan is likely to serve only six days in county lockup because of overcrowding, L.A. Now reported.

Prosecutors told the court that Lohan was a no-show at the Downtown Women's Center for 14 of the 19 shifts she'd scheduled, and worked less than the required four-hour minimum on three of the five times she showed up. When it came to her once-a-week psychological counseling sessions, they said, she'd canceled or rescheduled 12 of 20 appointments.

After her jail time, Lohan is to fulfill her community service and therapy requirements in regular chunks: 12 days at the morgue and four 45-minute therapy sessions per month, with progress-hearing dates set for January, February and March. Though she can't leave the country, and can leave the state only for holiday visits with family, Lohan is free to finish up sooner than March 29, if she can pull it off.

Mess up, however, and about a year and a half of jail time falls on her head, no questions asked. Everything stems, of course, from a couple of 2007 DUI arrests and a no-contest plea on misdemeanor theft earlier this year.

2006-2010: A Lindsay Lohan timeline — in case you've had a life

"From what I can see of you, you need a structure, and this gives you a structure," Sautner said.

Rather than ordering her into custody immediately, Sautner told Lohan to surrender within a week, a break that may have been negotiated, sources told TMZ, so Lindsay could fulfill the terms of her big-bucks photo contract with Playboy.

Sautner said she'd tried to get another women's shelter to take Lohan as a volunteer, but couldn't find a taker. However, she said, "The morgue is willing to keep you."

After suggesting Lohan nix any tweets about her morgue duty, the judge said the coroner's office had agreed to stop holding its own news conferences about her behavior at its house. (Think: the Alleged Unwanted Cupcake Incident.)

Unlike her last visit to court, Lohan afterward was escorted out the front door — and right before the mike cut off at the end of the hearing, a young female voice could be heard whispering: "Oh, thank God."

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Photo: Lindsay Lohan in court Wednesday with attorney Shawn Chapman Holley at her side. Credit: Mario Anzuoni / Pool / European Pressphoto Agency

Lindsay Lohan errs on the early side, makes it to the morgue

Lindsay Lohan got it right Friday morning, showing up at the L.A. County coroner's office for morgue community service while it was still dark, which simply has to be on time, right?

Lohan had stumbled on what we'll call a "trial run" Thursday, getting turned away at the door — once she finally found the correct one — because she showed up late.

The actress and model will be "cleaning toilets, mopping floors and emptying the trash bins," Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told L.A. Now, saying she wouldn't be treated differently than any of the 15 to 20 people each day who do this as community service. Assuming, of course, those 15 to 20 people are also greeted by helicopters, photographers and a swarm of other media upon arrival.

"With all of the stress and pressure from yesterday and today," Lohan wrote online Thursday, "I've never been so happy to go to therapy!!!! Also, I'm sorry for the confusion that I may of caused to those at the Coroner's office. Won't happen again, now I know where to go! Thank you for your help."

She made it to the morgue at 5:35 a.m. Friday, dropped off by a driver and beating her Thursday time by about three hours.

The morgue staffers, who are not allowed to fraternize with community service folks in general, have been specifically ordered not to photograph Lohan, Winter told L.A. Now. However, that hasn't stopped unnamed sources from leaking details of Lindsay's day already to outlets including TMZ.

Lohan, whose probation was revoked Wednesday pending a hearing to determine if her weak performance on community service constitutes a violation, appears to be taking Judge Stephanie Sautner's strongly worded hint that she get at least 16 hours done at the morgue before everyone's back in court Nov. 2.

The actress, on probation for DUI and other charges in 2007 and a misdemeanor theft earlier this year, was kicked out of community service at the Downtown Women's Center, and the judge was not pleased. There are also questions about whether court-ordered weekly counseling sessions were attended in person, and represented accurately to the court on a probation progress report.

The downtown center has said it would take Lohan back to fulfill her 360-hour sentence if she completed her 120 hours at the morgue first. Since being sentenced in May, she'd completed only 21 hours and reportedly missed nine scheduled four-hour shifts.

So, what's that simple rule of parenting? Reward the behavior you want to encourage, and ignore the unwanted stuff? In that case, bravo, Lilo, for getting to the morgue on time, and with fabulous hair, we must add. If a felonious Chris Brown could get gold stars from a judge, anything is possible.

As for completely ignoring the rest, well, we're not quite that mature yet.

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Photos: Lindsay Lohan, right, arrives to a media welcome at the L.A. County coroner's office at 5:35 a.m. Friday, dropped off by a driver, left. She was reporting for community service at the morgue. Credits: Jason Redmond / Associated Press

 

Lindsay Lohan posts bail quickly — practice makes perfect?

Lindsay Lohan might not be so good at probation, but she appears to have the bail thing nailed. Never dismiss the power of "practice, practice, practice."

Lohan promptly posted $100,000 bond Wednesday, with L.A. Now reporting she'd spent less than an hour in custody after Judge Stephanie Sautner revoked her probation, pending a hearing set for Nov. 2.

2006-2010: A Lindsay Lohan trouble timeline — in case you've had a life

Before her client was cuffed, attorney Shawn Chapman Holley had pointed out that Lilo's bail bondsman was in the court and ready to go to work if the judge wanted to skip any steps, but Sautner wasn't about to catch that Hail Mary. "No," she said, the sheriff's deputies were going to do their thing. "Take her into custody."

At the next hearing, the judge will decide after hearing from witnesses whether Lohan has again violated the terms of her probation — which Sautner referred to as "a gift, not a right." At issue? Did she show up in person for all required counseling sessions, and what exactly prompted the Downtown Women's Center to make her persona non grata regarding community service.

Should the actress be found in violation, it's unclear whether she'd actually head back to jail, or be looking at more home detention. In court the judge made reference to a massive, budget-related transfer of felons from state prisons to county lockups, which could make jails too crowded to house misdemeanor offenders.

Also Wednesday, the hits kept coming for Lindsay: While in court, TMZ said, she was served with notice of a civil suit being filed against her by Dawn Holland, the former Betty Ford Center worker who alleged Lohan roughed her up when she tried to administer a breath test for alcohol after the actress and others went AWOL from a sober house.

Though local police said they had enough evidence, Riverside County authorities in March decided against filing criminal charges related to the December 2010 altercation.

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Photo: Lindsay Lohan listens to the judge in L.A. on Oct. 19. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

 

Lindsay Lohan's probation revoked pending a hearing

Lindsay Lohan was taken into custody yet again after Judge Stephanie Sautner on Wednesday revoked probation, pending a hearing, in her 2007 DUI and 2011 theft cases.

Sautner, who set bail at $50,000 in each case for a total of $100,000, pointed out that Lohan's own actions had left her in a position where it was impossible for the actress to complete her sentence.

Though attorney Shawn Chapman Holley told the judge that the bail bondsman was in the courtroom -- after a hearing date was set and probation was revoked -- Lohan couldn't avoid the cuffs. On a live camera feed from the courthouse, she was seen being taken off by deputies to be processed, hands behind her back, white dress flowing around her.

2006-2010: A Lindsay Lohan timeline -- in case you've had a life

Sautner also said that, should Lohan make bail and want to "mitigate" anything before her Nov. 2 hearing, it would be wise between now and then to work no less than two eight-hour shifts a week at the morgue toward the 120 morgue hours that were also part of the sentence.

The Times' Richard Winton was at the courthouse, where the judge was told Lohan had been slow to serve any of her 360 hours at the Downtown Women's Center shelter because she had to support herself and her family, with her main opportunities to work requiring travel overseas.

Holley's argument that it was "premature" to assess Lohan's progress didn't fly with the judge, who was not impressed with the amount of hours served -- or rather, not served -- at the Downtown Women's Center before that relationship ended.

Sautner also chided Lohan for a comment in a probation progress report that work at the center was "not fulfilling," wondering aloud whether community service was designed to be fulfilling, or punitive.

At the Nov. 2 hearing, witnesses will be called to explain the breakdown between Lohan and the women's center -- the actress was booted and reassigned by the probation department to the American Red Cross -- as well as the details of psychological counseling sessions that were to have been done in person every week.

Holley said Wednesday that the women's center had agreed to take Lohan back if she first did her 120 morgue hours. She argued that any in-person sessions that were missed had been excused and also made up, and that phone sessions had been in addition to the in-person work that was required.

LiLo will get no credit for community service done very recently at the Red Cross; the judge said that time would be seen as a donation to the county "out of the goodness of Miss Lohan's heart," since  probation officials and volunteers at the Downtown Women's Center had no authority to change the specifics of Sautner's sentence.

Lohan, who arrived in gold platform slingbacks and toted a gold Chanel purse, spoke only once, quietly telling the judge "I'm sorry" after getting a little worked up, seeming to want to explain something about whether missed sessions at the women's center had in fact been scheduled appointments.

Lindsay is about four years into attempting to complete probation requirements related to two DUI charges, a reckless driving charge and a diversion program in lieu of a cocaine possession charge. In May, she picked up a misdemeanor theft charge that earned her additional probation in lieu of a jail sentence, which was suspended.

Earlier this year Lohan was sentenced to 120 days in jail for violating the first probation, and served 35 days under house arrest. On Wednesday, Sautner said she didn't know if a jail sentence on a misdemeanor would result in any actual time served, as the county jails would be full of felons following a change in California law.

"How many stumbles have there been on the Beverly Hills case?" the judge asked Holley after the attorney argued that people usually aren't perfect at serving probation.

Added Sautner: "Her probation would have been over last year, had she done what was expected of her."

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Photos, from top: Lindsay Lohan arrives at the Airport Branch Courthouse in L.A. on Thursday, and is later escorted out in cuffs after the judge revoked her probation pending a hearing set for Nov. 2. Credit: Agence France-Press / Getty Images

Paris Hilton is off the hook, off probation in Vegas drug case

Paris Hilton may be offering Chris Brown some stiff competition in the I'm Really Good at Probation Department -- a judge on Tuesday praised Hilton's extra-credit efforts doing community service and closed out her case.

Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure closed out Hilton's probation after reviewing documents from her attorneys that in his opinion indicated "Miss Hilton was attentive, cooperative and fully engaged."

"The assessment here is that she understands the seriousness of the situation and the consequences of her actions," he said, according to the Las Vegas Sun. In working for Union Rescue Mission in L.A., a graffiti-removal team in Hollywood, an animal shelter in Las Vegas and the Race to Erase MS campaign, Hilton clocked more than the 200 hours she'd been tasked with.

And here we thought Breezy was the only celeb earning gold stars from the legal system. Though since Brown is working off a felony assault conviction, not a misdemeanor, he still has a few years of probation ahead of him. (Even so -- Lindsay, are you taking notes?)

Hilton did not have to appear in court Tuesday. As part of a plea deal that turned an arrest on suspicion of felony drug possession into a misdemeanor conviction for drug possession and obstructing an officer, she was required to pay a $2,000 fine, serve 200 hours of community service, complete drug counseling and stay out of trouble for a year on probation.

She and then-beau Cy Waits were pulled over on the Strip in August after officers smelled smoke wafting from the SUV that Waits was driving. When Hilton took a bathroom break supervised by law enforcement, a packet of cocaine fell out of her purse; she later said the drugs and the purse were not hers. The couple were both arrested.

Though Hilton entered her guilty plea in September 2010, Waits' situation was unresolved until late August of this year. He too cut a deal.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: Paris Hilton at home in April 2011. Credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

 

 

T.I. back in prison after luxury-bus ride to halfway house

T.I. was back in federal custody Friday in Atlanta, having gone back behind bars less than a day after his Wednesday release from federal prison in Arkansas.

Seems the Federal Bureau of Prisons had a problem with the luxury bus used by T.I., born Clifford Harris Jr., to get to the Atlanta halfway house where he was supposed to spend the final month of his 11-month probation-violation sentence.

"We are awaiting the opportunity to quickly resolve whatever the issue may be that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has with T.I.'s method of transportation -- bus -- from Arkansas to Atlanta, so that T.I. can return to the halfway house to complete the remaining days of his sentence," attorney Steve Sadow said in an email to Reuters. Tip's sentence is slated to end Sept. 29.

On Friday, the rapper was still being held in the medium-security U.S. penitentiary in Atlanta, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' inmate locator. He went in Wednesday night.

Prisoners moving from a low-security facility to a halfway house are allowed to travel via private transportation, unescorted, according to TMZ. Team T.I. reportedly told authorities he'd be riding in a van of some sort, sources told the website, leaving out the minor details that it would be a high-end rap-star tour bus, which he boarded under the watchful lenses of VH1 cameras.

Sadow pointed out that prison officials watched his client board the bus, telling CNN there was no intent to mislead anyone about the ride. No drugs or alcohol were involved, he said.  T.I.'s wife, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, told TMZ that authorities "walked him over, took pics and told him good luck in life," and should have told them at the time to use a van instead, if the bus was a problem.

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Photos: T.I., born Clifford Harris Jr., arrives at a Georgia halfway house Wednesday after his release from federal prison in Arkansas. He made the trip to Atlanta, where he's now back in federal custody, in a luxury tour bus, right. Credits: John Amis / Associated Press.

 

Rapper T.I. released from prison early, headed to halfway house

Rapper T.I., real name Clifford Harris Jr., was released from prison Wednesday a month early, bound for a halfway house in his home state of Georgia from a low-security federal prison in Arkansas where he'd been held after violating federal probation.

"Feels great to be back where I belong ... Back in the arms of those who need me the most," Tip said Wednesday morning on Twitter, shortly after leaving federal prison in Arkansas.

"The storm is over & da sun back out. IT'S OUR TIME TO SHINE SHAWTY!!!!! Welcome to the beginning of our Happy Ending!!!!"

T.I. was sentenced in October 2010 to 11 months in prison for violating his probation on federal weapons charges. An experimental sentence in that case had him touring to talk to kids about the dangers of violence and drugs before serving seven months in prison and doing the halfway-house thing back in 2009. His probation required that he obey all laws and possess no controlled substances.

The rapper and his wife, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, were arrested a year ago on suspicion of drug possession after a Sept. 1 traffic stop on the Sunset Strip. With the federal probation violation looming for T.I., local prosecutors did not pursue charges against him. Charges against Tiny were also dropped after she completed 24 sessions in a drug-diversion program.

"Those who need me most" include his wife, with whom the "Takers" cast member has two boys and a stepdaughter, and his two sons and a daughter from previous relationships.

Also awaiting T.I. on the outside? A deal with HarperCollins to publish a novel he's written (look for "Power & Beauty" in October) and a VH1 reality show set to air in December, chronicling his return home from prison. He turns 31 on Sept. 25.

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Photo: T.I. in Beverly Hills on Aug. 20, 2010. He was in the L.A. area for the opening of the movie "Takers," in which he appeared. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Lindsay Lohan can't afford counseling, her attorney argues. Really. [Poll]

Lindsay Lohan needs to speed up her completion of court-ordered community service and get cracking on psychological counseling if she wants to stay out on probation, a judge said Thursday -- even if the actress doesn't have health insurance.

With Lohan at her side during the status hearing in L.A., attorney Shawn Holley argued that the actress hadn't been working on Screen Actors Guild projects and therefore was not eligible for health benefits, without which she might not be able to afford counseling. That, Holley said, was why Lilo hadn't yet hooked up with a doc after her house arrest ended more than three weeks ago.

The Ministry will pause a moment for all readers who have no health insurance and also do not live in a cozy beach shack to ponder how in the world they'd be able to figure out how to pay cash for court-ordered psychological counseling.

"I find it hard to believe that she can't afford counseling," prosecutor Melanie Chavira told Judge Stephanie Sautner.

After Sautner suggested Lohan might be able to find someone who could help her out with a few bucks inside the 21 days she has to get into therapy, Holley indicated that finding financial aid would not be necessary.

Also on Thursday, Lohan was hit with a $1-million civil suit filed by Dawn Bradley, the former Betty Ford Center employee who alleged the actress yelled at her, threw a phone and grabbed her wrist and twisted it last December at the rehab center.

In the suit, Bradley claimed she suffered "significant injury" to her wrist as well as "post-traumatic stress syndrome requiring several therapy sessions." So, yeah, after being let go from her job, Bradley apparently was able to find psychological counseling.

Incidentally, a quick online check of psychologists in the Venice area revealed a number of folks whose hourly rate starts around $100 an hour and tops out at $150 to$200 a pop. Get this: Some of them even take credit cards -- or cash!

Now, we're not saying all those M.A.'s and MFCCs and PhD's would be cool getting paid in shoes, but as a last resort to stay out of jail, it couldn't hurt to ask about barter, right? Bet those $1,195 Louboutins that L.A. Now spotted Lohan wearing in court Thursday would get her at least an hour or two of head-shrinking in trade.

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Reuters contributed to this report.

Photo: Shawn Holley and Lindsay Lohan arrive at the Airport Courthouse in L.A. for Lohan's  progress report hearing Thursday. Credit: Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images