Legal Commentary

Lindsay Lohan Gets 90 Days in Jail for Probation Violation

By Jeralyn

Things did not go well for Lindsay Lohan in court today. At the end of a long hearing on a probation violation, she was sentenced to 90 days in jail, followed by 90 days of rehab. From a live blog:

Lindsay Lohan is now talking to the judge, she has begun to cry while she is defending herself. “This is my life, I’m taking this seriously, this is my life and my career that I have worked all my life for.”

- Judge Marsha Revel is now talking about the multiple times Lindsay has lied to both the court, police and others on past alcohol and cocaine use.

-Lindsay Lohan sentenced to 90 days in jail. Followed by 90 days in inpatient rehab. She’s crying like crazy.

She was given until July 20 to report and has to keep wearing her SCRAM bracelet until then. [More...]

Via the LA Times:

In considering her punishment, Revel said she considered whether Lohan violated her probation only for the actress' failure to attend some scheduled alcohol education classes, not because the alcohol-detection bracelet that Lohan was ordered to wear had been triggered following the MTV Movie Awards.

What was she on probation for? Driving under the influence of cocaine and reckless driving with a BAC of .08 (the legal threshhold for DUI.)

The case dates all the back to 2007, when Lohan was charged with DUI in two separate incidents. That August, Lohan's lawyer reached a plea deal in which the then-in-demand actress pleaded guilty to two counts of being under the influence of cocaine and no contest to reckless driving having a blood alcohol content of .08 percent. In exchange, she was to serve a day in jail (she ended up serving just over 80 minutes), do 10 days of community service and complete an alcohol education program.

90 days seems excessive. But it's a reminder that probation is no walk in the park. Probation is a sentence. It's filled with rules and regulations and it can last a long time. For those who with drug problems or issues with authority, it may not be the best resolution to a case. That's why Charlie Sheen tried so hard to get a plea deal that avoided probation, preferring to do 30 days in work release. His deal fell through, and he might want to consider whether serving 30 straight days, no work release, isn't preferable to a year or two of probation.

Question: Did the judge want to shock Lindsay to grab her attention? I won't be surprised if she reduces the sentence once she goes in.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 06, 2010 (boomark / email).