Paris Hilton on Friday was ordered to return to her solitary cell, a day after she had been sent home to house arrest and became the centre of a storm of protest that she was being treated better than someone less famous.
Tumultuous
Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer made his ruling after a hearing that followed a tumultuous sequence in which Hilton was brought to court in a sheriff's patrol car. Earlier, it seemed that she would attend the hearing only via telephone.
"The defendant is remanded to L.A. County jail," Sauer said after an hourlong hearing. "The order is final and forthwith."
In tears
Wearing a beige zippered sweater, Hilton crumpled into tears. As she was led away to the side door and the waiting transportation to jail, she wailed, "Mom, Mom! It's not right!"
Her earlier sojourn to the courthouse wasn't quite the scene of police chasing O.J. Simpson, but Hilton was part of the official caravan that wound its way from the Hollywood Hills east to the downtown courthouse.
Some television stations accorded Hilton the honour reserved for dignitaries' departures and the mundane cases of road rage: live television coverage.
Handcuff and sweat
A crying Hilton sat in the back seat, wearing handcuffs and sweats. She entered a black-and-white police car, No 865, which was parked in the driveway next to one of the family cars, a Bentley. Then, lights flashing, off she rode to meet her fate.
Hilton went to Sauer's courtroom on Friday morning because the city attorney's office opposed the 26-year-old heiress' release from jail on Thursday.
She had served only a little more than three days of her sentence when Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca decided she was too ill to serve more time.
Test case
But the Hilton affair has moved beyond the courtroom to become as much of a media circus as a test case on whether wealth and notoriety buy special treatment from the judicial system.
Sauer originally sentenced Hilton to 45 days in jail after she repeatedly violated her probation on alcohol-related reckless driving charges. Sauer was insistent that Hilton serve her time, but before she even set foot in Lynwood, the woman's facility, officials had cut the sentence to 23 days.
Depressed
Hilton surrendered late on Sunday night to the Sheriff's Department after a surprise appearance at the MTV Movie Awards. She was taken to Lynwood's Century Regional Detention Facility.
Reports quickly surfaced that she was depressed. A little more than two hours into Thursday morning, she legally left the jail with an electronic monitoring device and orders to spend 40 days confined to her Spanish-style home.
Furore
The furore over the release grew throughout the day as unionised sheriff's deputies, politicians and community activists complained that Hilton was being treated more generously than any other inmate. Baca defended the decision to release Hilton for unspecified medical reasons, but the city attorney's office, which prosecuted Hilton, demanded a hearing to return Hilton to jail.
Special treatment
Assistant City Attorney Dan Jeffries said the reason given for Hilton's release made the case unusual and raised questions about special treatment.
He said that releasing inmates because of overcrowding was common but that in his 25 years as a prosecutor, he could remember only two or three instances in which people were let out early for medical reasons. In each case, he said, the individual was extremely ill.
Paparazzi have mobbed Hilton's home and the courthouse. As Hilton prepared to leave her home on Friday morning, what appeared to be large tarpaulins were placed over the fence to block possible photographs of her departure.
In addition to seeking Hilton's return to jail, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo asked the court to issue an order for the Sheriff's Department to show cause why it should not be held in contempt for violating the court's sentence.
On May 4, the court ordered no electronic monitoring.
At the courthouse, there was the usual mob scene, not only of journalists, but also of people waiting to deal with traffic issues.
Celebs and the law
Following are some recent sentences meted out to celebrities in US:
- Naomi Campbell put in five days of community service mopping floors and cleaning toilets at a New York garbage depot in March after pleading guilty to assaulting a housekeeper.
- Mel Gibson, actor/director, sentenced to three years probation, one year mandatory alcohol rehab programme for drunk driving conviction in July 2006.
- Martha Stewart, US home guru, served five months in prison in 2005 for lying to investigators about a stock trade.
- Nick Nolte, actor, was given three years probation and 90 days drug rehab for driving under influence of drugs in 2002.
- Boy George, British pop singer, sentenced to five days community service in 2006 sweeping streets in New York for falsely reporting a burglary.
- Courtney Love, singer, got three years probation and six months mandatory drug rehab for various drug and assault charges in 2005.
- Omar Sharif, actor, was given two years probation and anger management counselling for a 2005 assault on a Beverly Hills parking attendant.
- Lil' Kim, rapper, served 10 months in prison for perjury in case of 2001 rival rapper shootout.
- Snoop Dogg, rapper, got a three-year suspended jail sentence and 800 hours community service for 2006 gun and drug possession charges.
- Winona Ryder, actress, got three years probation and 480 hours community service for 2001 Beverly Hills shoplifting case.
