SIMPLE JUSTICE: RICHIE GIVEN FOUR DAYS IN JAIL

July 28, 2007
Staff and Wire Services

GLENDALE -- In the latest case of a celebrity starlet gone bad, Nicole Richie was sentenced to four days in jail Friday after pleading guilty to driving under the influence.

For her wrong-way freeway trek through Burbank in a Mercedes-Benz, Richie was slapped with jail time, a $2,048 fine and ordered to attend drug and alcohol rehab.
``She's not gonna be coming in here wearing a mini skirt and pumps,'' Burbank police Sgt. Thor Merich said, describing the spartan lifestyle that would await her if she goes to that city's jail. ``We pretty much go the bare minimum.''

Prosecutors said Richie will serve time in a city jail rather than a county lockup. She has the choice of any local jail in Los Angeles County that will accept her.

Richie arrived in a black SUV on the arm of her boyfriend, rocker Joel Madden (a proud Glendalian).

The couple and their entourage cruised past sheriff's security and waited outside Glendale Superior Court Department 1 along with the media throng -- about two-thirds credentialed broadcast and print crews, one-third curious onlookers and bloggers.

In court, a somber and subdued Richie pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of drugs in a deal with prosecutors that helped her avoid a potential year in jail on her second DUI conviction.

But Richie, who is rumored to be pregnant, couldn't avoid a lecture from Superior Court Commissioner Steven K. Lubell.

``The facts of this case are pretty scary,'' he said. ``Somebody could have been killed.''

If Richie violates her probation, she'll wind up in jail for a year.

For now, she will serve less than four days. In jail, Richie will be able to wear most of her own clothing but anything that might be used as a weapon will be taken away, including shoelaces, belts, high heels and underwire bras.

Richie was arrested Dec. 11 after witnesses reported seeing her black Mercedes-Benz sport-utility vehicle headed the wrong way on the 134 Freeway in Burbank. The California Highway Patrol said they found her parked in the car-pool lane.

Richie told authorities she had smoked marijuana and taken the prescription painkiller Vicodin, a CHP officer said at the time. No drugs were found on her or in the car.

The waif-like reality-show star was conservatively dressed Friday in a loose black trapeze style dress that skimmed her body and kept observers guessing about the rumors she is pregnant.

Her blond hair was pulled back in a knot at her neck just above a ``Richie'' tattoo that included a small red bow.

The co-star of TV's ``The Simple Life'' and daughter of pop singer Lionel Richie must complete her jail time by Sept. 28 and return to court Feb. 20 to show she has complied with the rest of the sentence.

She follows in the unsteady footsteps of her ``Simple Life'' co-star Paris Hilton, who recently was released from jail after serving time on a probation violation in a DUI case. Actress Lindsay Lohan also was arrested this week on suspicion of DUI and cocaine possession.

--
from Daily News' Glendale/Burbank news blog:

The victim of an elbow

The whole thing was over within a half-hour. Reporters compared notes on what happened as Richie and her crew left the building. Photographers got agitated, and I was caught between the curb and Richie's SUV.

Dozens of photogs suddenly turned in my direction, pushing over each other to squeeze a few shots of her departure. That's where the elbow to the head came -- a slight bump that ejected me to the rear of the pack.

No big deal -- we all gotta pay the bills -- and I had to run to cover the district attorney's news conference.

There, the TV folks peppered Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Lugo with their two obsessions -- whether Richie will do her four days in jail in the county slammer or in a nice city jail, where there's TV and Internet access; and what is the lesson to be learned here?

-- Staff Writer Eugene Tong