Lindsay Lohan plea deal: 90 days in locked rehab facility
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Lindsay Lohan will spent 90 days in a locked rehabilitation facility as part of a last-minute plea deal the actress reached Monday, the morning she was set to go on trial on charges that she lied to police in the wake of a car crash.
Lohan pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and must also spend 18 months in psychotherapy and perform 30 days of community service in New York.
The troubled star faced up to a year in jail on three misdemeanor counts related to the June 2012 collision on Pacific Coast Highway, as well as a violation of probation for a 2011 shoplifting conviction involving the taking of a necklace from a Venice jewelry store.
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She had faced one misdemeanor count each of reckless driving, providing false information to an officer and willfully resisting, obstructing or delaying an officer.
In keeping with her history of real-life courtroom dramas, Lohan made a last-minute dash from New York to enter the plea. Her lawyers negotiated with prosecutors for more than an hour before the actress, who insisted on her innocence until now, agreed to the deal.
The 26-year-old apparently caught an overnight flight to Los Angeles on a private jet, according to her Twitter account. The flight was delayed and landed at LAX about 8:30 a.m., according to media reports.
‘Thanks Mr. Pink for the private jet see you all in a few hours in LA,’ she tweeted early Monday.
When Lohan finally arrived at the courthouse, a woman threw gold glitter on the actress as she made her way past the media swarmed outside. The woman was not arrested and authorities had no plans to further investigate, sheriff’s officials said.
Santa Monica prosecutors said Lohan told officers she was not driving a Porsche that rear-ended a truck June 18 as she headed to the set of “Liz & Dick.” She faced one misdemeanor count each of reckless driving, providing false information to an officer and willfully resisting, obstructing or delaying an officer.
There had been talk of a possible plea deal for weeks, according to several people with knowledge of the situation, but Lohan did not agree to the deal until Monday morning.
Monday’s court appearance was the most recent for the actress, who has been on probation for various drunk-driving and shoplifting charges since 2007 and accumulated what the judge described as a voluminous court file. She remains on probation for shoplifting.
Until last month, Lohan was represented by Shawn Holley, among the region’s top lawyers. Her new attorney, Mark Heller, from New York, has been reprimanded by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Dabney, who has questioned the attorney’s ability to adequately defend the actress in California, given that he did not seem familiar with the state’s criminal-law system.
‘I’m somewhat concerned whether you have sufficient guidance from local counsel,’ the judge said after Heller filed a ‘bill of particulars’ — a motion not used in California criminal proceedings. A local attorney who vouched for Heller has not practiced law for several years.
Last week, Lohan’s father, Michael Lohan, had retained an Orange County criminal law firm to assist in his daughter’s defense if needed. Paul Wallin, a partner at Wallin & Klarich, confirmed to The Times that attorney David E. Wohl and others from the firm would be in court Monday at Michael Lohan’s request.
Wallin said last week that Heller had also asked his firm to help with Lohan’s defense.
In a statement, Michael Lohan said the Orange County firm was ‘prepared to take over Lindsay’s defense, and I sincerely hope the court permits them to do so.’
‘I’m Lindsay’s father, and I’m not at all comfortable with the poor representation she is getting right now,’ he said. ‘My daughter’s freedom and future are at stake, and I’m doing what any father would do in this dire situation.’ Michael Lohan and his daughter have a strained relationship that has played out in public, with the actress and her siblings frequently criticizing their father in interviews and on social media.
He was present in the courtroom Monday morning, but the two did not appear to communicate.
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— Richard Winton
