Expert: Lohan Charges No Big Deal
Defense Lawyer Mickey Sherman: Would Be First Offense, And Tiny Amount Of Cocaine Allegedly Involved
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Lohan's New Legal Troubles
Actress Linday Lohan was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and the possession of cocaine in her car on Sunday. She was subsequently released on this misdemeanor charge. Bill Whitaker reports.
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Legal Analyst: Lohan's Trouble
CBS' Legal Analyst Mickey Sherman tells Hannah Storm that Lindsay Lohan's recent trouble with the law is not as much of a problem as she does not have a record for DWI.
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Lindsay Lohan In Accident
Lohan struck a curb on Sunset Boulevard, police suspect DUI. The case will be presented to the D.A.'s Office where the actress could face charges, including felonies.
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(GETTY IMAGES/Evan Agostini)
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Photo Essay
A Year Of Lohan
The young actress ends a whirl of activity by entering rehab. Here's a glance at her year.
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Photo Essay
Lucky Lindsay
The teen screen star attends the premiere her new romantic comedy "Just My Luck."
CBS News consultant Mickey Sherman says Lohan isn't "in as deep problems as you would think."
Lohan was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after her 2005 Mercedes SL-65 convertible hit a curb at 5:30 Saturday morning. Authorities said they found what they believe to be cocaine at the scene.
The actress, 20, and two other people were in the car her when it crashed on Sunset Boulevard, and it appeared she was speeding, police said.
Officers at the scene found a "usable amount" of a drug tentatively identified as cocaine, a police spokesman said.
Lohan, who spent time in rehab earlier this year, was driven in another car to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, police said. The two other people in her car weren't hurt.Photos: Celebrity Mug Shots
Officers got a 911 call about the accident and arrested Lohan at the hospital for investigation of misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, police said.
She was released from custody because she was admitted to the hospital, they added.Photos: A Year of Lohan
"As far as we know," Sherman told co-anchor Hannah Storm on The Early Show Monday, "she doesn't have a record for DWI (driving while intoxicated), she doesn't have a prior conviction and, unlike Paris Hilton, to our knowledge, she's not on probation for any of these things.
"So, even listless, misguided, spoiled celebrities are often entitled to, you know, a first bite at the apple. In all likelihood she'll get some type of diversionary program or first offender program.
"But the fact that it's just a usable quality, (as opposed to) a selling quantity, she's not going to be charged with anything extraordinarily serious, as far as the cocaine's concerned..
"Plus, you have a gap. She wasn't in the car. She went to get help. You know, she could always say, (and it) may or may not be true, that she had drinks after, in fact, the accident and before she got to the emergency room. Sounds contrived, but it often happens."Photos: Livin' La Vida Lohan
So, Storm asked, there might not be any sort of blood alcohol test that would be admissible in court?
"Well," Smerman responded, "(there) may be, but the question is, how relevant can it be, because if she says, 'Just before I went to the hospital, I was so upset, I went across the street to the bar and had drinks.' You know, that may not be supported by facts, but, you know, eventually the police are going to get to the hospital, get the records, find out if there's alcohol in her system — and don't forget the charge is under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. So, if they can show that she had an opiate in her system, that could convict her as well. Then again, it appears to be a first offense and the key thing is, nobody got hurt except a couple of trees off Sunset (Blvd.)."
Technically, Sherman noted, when Lohan left the scene to go to the hospital, "That's a crime. Then again, it's not like she took the plates off the car or had somebody remove the car. She left the car there, her Mercedes is there, registered to her or her people, as we say, so I don't think that's a big deal, (that) she left the scene. It would be had she hit somebody and there were injuries. But just herself, it's a crime, but it's like an infraction, not a big deal."
Sherman added, "The Internet is filled with her coming from the bar, running from the -- from her car after the accident. This woman doesn't do anything that's not videoed. So, she's under enormous pressure. In all likelihood, a judge will order her, or her lawyer will say, 'Get some help before they even order you to do it.' "
The weekend crash was Lohan's third accident in roughly two years.
In October 2005, Lohan and a passenger sustained minor injuries when her convertible hit a van in West Hollywood. Authorities said the van driver, who also received minor injuries, was at fault.
Months earlier, Lohan collided with a minivan when she made a U-turn as the van, carrying paparazzi, followed her from a Los Angeles restaurant. A photographer was arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon but prosecutors declined to charge him.
That crash was credited with prompting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign a law that set steep financial penalties for paparazzi who commit assaults while trying to obtain celebrity photos.
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Photos: Celebrity Mug Shots



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Mickey Sherman****
quoted by a true reckless left winged liberal..its all gravy till it is his/her own children is hurt or killed by that 'first bite of the apple' AND IN TURN immedietly demand FORGIVNESS after a short and cheap APOLOGY.
Posted by ainttaken at 12:25 PM : May 28, 2007
Actually, you need to be related to a powerful hollywood producer, politician or other well connected person.
If the average Joe Schmuck opened a rehab center, his only clients with be other Joe Schmucks, most without money or employment.
You sound like Rush Limbaugh before he was charged with a crime for being a druggie, which caused him to hire a "left wing[ed] liberal" lawyer to save his butt.
What you are unwilling to understand (likely because of your political blindness) is that Sherman isn't justifying or excusing what will happen to Lohan, he is merely outlining how the system now works, especially for people of privilege, unlike poor minorities whose cause I'm sure you champion.
If you want to stop privileged people from getting this kind of treatment, petition both liberal and conservative politicians, who have created the current system.
You sound like Rush Limbaugh before he was charged with a crime for being a druggie, which caused him to hire a "left wing[ed] liberal" lawyer to save his butt.
What you are unwilling to understand (likely because of your political blindness) is that Sherman isn't justifying or excusing what will happen to Lohan, he is merely outlining how the system now works, especially for people of privilege, unlike poor minorities whose cause I'm sure you champion.
If you want to stop privileged people from getting this kind of treatment, petition both liberal and conservative politicians, who have created the current system.
This *** it getting way out of hand with all these celebrities.
How true. If Mr. Sherman or someone he knows/loves were hit by this drunken, drugged-out little 'ho, he would be singing a different song. I think it is pitiful that the justice system can be bought and sold this way - in the article yesterday, it said her arraignment wouldn't be until late August - you know if it had been you or me, we would still be IN jail (not arrested at the hospital and then turned loose without setting foot in the jail house, because she was "injured") and our arraignment and would be very quick. Seems like out in Hollyweird, they can put the nastiness off for a while - hmmmm, maybe all the fuss will blow over by then, right?
Would sure be nice to get a "get out of jail free" pass like these little pop princesses do all the time - looks like California is overflowing with heroin addicts, drunks & trashy wh**es who make a game out of breaking the laws all the rest of us have to abide by. If you do the crime, you should at least have to serve SOME of the time.
Since our county has open access to certain court records, I did some research into what an average first time offender gets. She will probably get $335 fine, 3 months of first-time offender alcohol and 3 years of informal probation [non-supervise]. The drug charge will result in 3 years [formal, supervisied probation] with 1X day AA court-order attendance, and entrance in a drug diversion program. What Lindsey actually gets a whole different story but that is what average joe would get in the OC
"But the fact that it's just a usable quality, (as opposed to) a selling quantity, she's not going to be charged with anything extraordinarily serious, as far as the cocaine's concerned.."
This attorney better take a walk into the real world and the criminal justice system especially in small town America.... first time possessors of drugs are often charged with crimes and either spend time in jail--or get probation--but what they also get is a criminal record which will haunt them for the rest of their lives. But I guess it is no big deal--because the Public chooses not to treat it as a big deal. And who said the Peasant mentality was defunct? America craves a king (Bush) and royalty (celebrities)and are willing to accept any crime (Including murder) as the right of their adored elite. Pathetic.
Posted by techresmgt at 12:32 PM : May 28, 2007
right. Which is why Stallone got off, and many others. The fact is--it is not women who walk (the womens' prisons are full of nonwalkers) it is those who are elite. The old story of the power of money. If you have it, you can do no wrong--it is not the rich who are fvcked up in this country--it is the mindset of those who excuse them and think they deserve different rules than the rest of society.
Posted by cbscrash07 at 03:23 PM : May 28, 2007
A few years ago, Halle Berry hit a pedestrian while on a drunk. She left the scene of the accident. No time in Jail, but she did bat her eyes and say she was "really, really sorry" Really.
I don't know if Lohan belong in jail but she does need her butt kicked - she's got everything a young woman could wnat and yet she's a mess. No excuse for this.
my hobby when i was there was to write down the tag numbers of the COP cars that broke driving rules.
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by sweetsher29
May 30, 2007 5:10 PM PDT
- Ok so she can go out and do drugs and cocaine and get what...a slap on the wrist. What does she have to do kill someone in her drunkeness to get put in her place? Who does she think she is GOD??? Where is MADD when you need them? I bet they could get results and then it wouldn't be "no big deal". What a crock!
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