Wednesday, October 22, 2008



Sunday, July 1, 2007

paris say aloha

After 23 days spent reading, writing and figuring out where she went wrong, Paris H
ilton must be more than ready for some fun in the sun.

The heiress touched down in Maui Thursday afternoon, clad in sunglasses and a black wig in an apparently futile attempt at disguising herself as she made her way from first-class airport lounge to first-class resort accommodations.

Either way, Hilton has left the contiguous 48 states, two days removed from a three-week stint in jail and less than 24 hours after opening up on Larry King Live about what she went through, who she really is and what she plans on doing now that she's seen the error of her oft-flighty ways.

Hilton said that, while at first she expected to be sentenced to community service and that jail was unfair, the punishment was really a "blessing in disguise," a chance to discover what was really important in life and turn over a new leaf.

"I just had to deal with it," she said. "If I was going to be there, I had to make the best of it."

The perennial red carpet and tabloid presence also told King that, despite her party-hearty image (and the myriad photographic images contributing to her reputation), she is not a big drinker and, other than prescription meds to treat attention deficit disorder, does not take drugs.

King, who has lobbed quite a few questions in his lifetime, wasn't quite sure whether Hilton was being perfectly ingenuous during that part of the interview, however.

King felt Hilton was being honest "for the most part," he told Ryan Seacrest Thursday during the E! News anchor's KIIS-FM morning show.

"I don't think anyone believes that she's never done drugs. When you do something, the best way to be is to say that you did them. Then the audience will believe you. The worst is to try to deny it. And I think that's hard to take."

Also in a debunking mood was The Smoking Gun, which has posted seven videos featuring Hilton talking about smoking marijuana, engaged in a discussion about Quaaludes and prescription painkillers, musing about whether to take hallucinogenic mushrooms, and smoking hash—albeit in Amsterdam, where it's legal.

But, whether Hilton fudged the truth or not, King deemed their Q&A good television.

"I don't think you turned it off," he said. "I thought she looked good—for someone who'd been in jail, she looked fine."

Also, "she gives you shorter answers than you would like. I might have wanted more introspection. And I think she's finding herself. She's been raised with more money than God. And you've got to face life as she's tried to face it."

Hilton's appearance was certainly a coup for King, whose long-running CNN show attracted nearly triple the audience it usually gets, a hefty 3.2 million viewers as opposed to its usual 1.1 million.





Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Paris Hilton decides against appeal

LOS ANGELES— A day after a tearful Paris Hilton was ordered back to jail, the hotel heiress said she won't appeal her 45-day jail sentence and is "learning and growing" from her time behind bars.



Her change of heart came Saturday when she announced in a statement released by one of her attorneys that she won't fight her sentence after a brief stint under house arrest at her Hollywood Hills home.

"Today, I told my attorneys not to appeal the judge's decision," Hilton said in the statement. "While I greatly appreciate the sheriff's concern for my health and welfare, I intend to serve my time at L.A. County Jail."

The celebutante was at a maximum-security detention center, where she was believed to be undergoing medical and psychiatric evaluations to determine the best jail to keep her in as she serves the rest of her sentence.

Hilton, in tears and screaming for her mother, was taken to the downtown Twin Towers facility Friday afternoon after Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer ordered her back to jail.

"Being in jail is by far the hardest thing I have ever done," she said in the statement. "During the past several days, I have had a lot of time to think and I believe that I am learning and growing from this experience."

Hilton added she was "shocked" by the attention her case has received and suggested the public and media focus on "more important things like the men and women serving our country in Iraq."

Her lawyers had sought to keep her out of jail on grounds that the 26-year-old was suffering an unspecified medical condition. Sauer suggested that could be taken care of at jail medical facilities.

Although authorities wouldn't discuss Hilton's condition, citing privacy laws, Sheriff Lee Baca indicated it was psychological.

He said she arrived at her original jail with a condition he hadn't been apprised of and that it immediately began to deteriorate to the point that he feared for her safety.

Sheriff's officials expect Hilton to be at Twin Towers at least through Sunday.

Which jail the heiress will end up at depends on the results of her assessment by the facility's doctors.

Sauer sentenced Hilton to 45 days in jail and said she could not serve it at home. When she was released she had served only three full days but was credited with five because she surrendered to authorities late Sunday night after attending the MTV Movie Awards and was released early Thursday morning. Before her release, she was fitted with an ankle bracelet and ordered not to leave her house until her sentence was up.

Hilton was expected to serve only 23 days because of a state law that requires shorter sentences for good behavior. She was credited with both her time served in jail and at home, so by Saturday she had completed seven days of her sentence. With time off for good behavior, she could be released in a little more than two weeks.

Hilton's path to jail began Sept. 7, when she failed a sobriety test after police saw her weaving down a street in her Mercedes-Benz on what she said was a late-night run to a hamburger stand.

She pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to 36 months' probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines.

In the months that followed, she was stopped twice by officers who discovered her driving on a suspended license. The second stop landed her in Sauer's courtroom, where he sentenced her to jail.





Friday, June 8, 2007

latest news about paris hilton


Hours after Paris Hilton was sprung from jail and placed under house arrest for an unspecified "medical condition," the Los Angeles City's Attorney's Office wants to send her back.

Prosecutors filed court papers Thursday evening with the judge who originally sentenced the heiress to 45 days in jail requesting that the country sheriff's department return her to custody and that the department show cause as to why it shouldn't be held in contempt of court for letting her go, or "reassigning" her, in the first place.

In response, the sheriff's department has been ordered to bring Hilton to court Friday at 9 a.m. for a hearing on the matter.

With the approval of Sheriff Lee Baca, Hilton was released from the Century Regional Detention Facility shortly after midnight, fitted with a monitoring ankle bracelet and ordered confined to her 2,700-square-foot Hollywood Hills home for the next 40 days.

While she's still technically being punished, the move caused an immediate outcry by everyone from The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck to L.A. city and county officials who perceived the sheriff's actions as an affront to the justice system, especially since Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer had specifically ordered that the Simple Life star not be given alternative custody or electronic monitoring.

City attorney spokesman Nick Velasquez said earlier Thursday that the office had been "inundated with calls and emails form people," with "100 percent of them" angry about Hilton's release.

Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said today that he was "extremely troubled" by the sheriff's decision and had asked his prosecutors to "immediately explore all possible legal options to ensure that the law is being applied equally and justly in this case."

"Los Angeles County Jail medical facilities are well-equipped to deal with medical situations involving inmates," he added.

Meanwhile, sheriff's department spokesman Steve Whitmore told KNBC-TV that the contempt accusation "appears to be another Rocky Delgadillo press stunt."

"We've examined documents and will respond accordingly in court," he said.

Steve Remige, president of the Association of Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs, told KNBC that the system definitely worked in Hilton's favor.

"It appears that in Los Angeles County, if you are a wealthy individual or famous individual, that you are getting preferential treatment in the county jail system, in the county criminal system," Remige said.

To the Los Angeles Times: "I've never heard of a case where an inmate with mental problems has been released. Every jail facility has a medical unit attached to it. If a medical condition arises that those units can't handle, we have a jail ward at County-USC Hospital. I find it hard to believe that the needs of one inmate could not be met by our medical services division."

Although the exact terms of her in-house confinement are unknown—who's allowed to visit, whether she can entertain, etc.—most people are figuring that whatever goes on is going to be a pretty posh alternative to spending the next 19 days in a county lockup.

Hilton was supposed to serve 23 days of her 45-day sentence at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California, for violating her probation for alcohol-related reckless driving by driving several times with a suspended license.

"This makes a mockery of due process, and you're dealing with a spoiled brat, acting out to get her way instead of serving her time as was adjudicated by the courts," Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich told reporters. "She should pay the consequences for her actions and what's happened—she's now going home to her estate."

Which, according to a close childhood pal of Hilton's, will be abuzz tonight with friends and family to welcome her home.

"It's just friends and hanging out and giving her hugs and kisses and stuff like that, so I hope that I can be a part of it, but we'll see," Caroline D'Amore told E! News' Samantha Harris, adding that she had been trying to reach Hilton since Wednesday night but that the socialite's text messaging and voicemail inboxes were full.

A source told OK! magazine, however, that, in light of Hilton's pending court date, all gatherings are off.

D'Amore also said that she understood why Hilton reportedly had such a hard time of it behind bars, however brief her stay.

"One of my dearest friends was in jail for 24 hours," she told Harris. "Called me crying hysterically, said it was one of the worst, most vile, disgusting things on the planet…She was a changed person, and she was only there for 24 hours."

Hilton, who was visited twice by her psychiatrist during her short stint in jail, was crying all the time and, unable to sleep, appeared exhausted and unkempt, People magazine reported.

Kathy and Rick Hilton arrive at their daughter's West Hollywood residence today, with Kathy Hilton telling Extra they were "happy to have her home."

In a statement released earlier today, Hilton said: "I am going to serve the remaining 40 days of my sentence. I have learned a great deal from this ordeal and hope that others have learned from my mistakes."