Paris Hilton goes to jail

Splashed over the Drudge Report's front page, I couldn't help but notice that Paris Hilton was sentenced to 45 days in jail. Having worked in a prosecutor's office one summer, I am not at all surprised. See one of the hundreds of write-ups about this here.

Fact. Hilton had already had been placed on probation prior to this incident for an unrelated DUI case.

Fact. Hilton was pulled over nine months later for speeding and making an illegal left turn. At the time of this arrest, her license was suspended as part of the original probation. Her driving privileges were suspended again.

Fact. Four months later she was pulled over again, again in contravention of her suspended license. This time she was given a warning.

Fact. A month later, still within the period of her suspended license, she was pulled over again. A written warning was given.

Fact. A month later, she is pulled over again.

I'm not sure how many of these times involved DUI, but at least one of them was. At all times she was pulled over, her license was suspended. Her attorney's "ignorance of the law" defense surprisingly didn't work, and I'm sure whatever first year DA that was given this traffic case could not have asked for an easier one to prosecute.

What makes this case even funnier is that she didn't even express any remorse (since that always works) and then blamed her attorney and a host of other people, save herself (a second, even better move). Given that she had several warnings and had already failed to comply with her first probation on multiple occasions, I would think 45 days is well within the statutory guidelines. Further, if this case was anyone else, it wouldn't even make the local news. If anything, it's a rather routine second sentence for a repeat DUI offender. Hopefully Hilton's attorney has advised her of what the potential consequences are if she is to be pulled over again.

The crowning hilarity of the case (for me anyway) is the fact that her attorney says he will appeal the decision. What a sound bite. While I have no familiarity with the swiftness of California's legal system, I am pretty sure that (a) they have no basis in good faith to be granted an expedited appeal; and (b) even if they did appeal, she would be out of jail and the case would be mooted before it even got part way through the appeal system.

Result: Guilty. Conviction: Affirmed.

Lastly, in response to her mother's "waste of tax payer's money" comment, I'm pretty sure that is exactly what they are paid to do. Want to do something about it Ms. Hilton? Use the power of the democracy and vote to change the statute. Or, in the words of Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar, tell your daughter to "stop breaking the law!"

Tags: paris hilton, jail, conviction, arrest