Britney's Visitation Rights Still On Ice
A Superior Court commissioner decided Monday to keep in effect an earlier order suspending Britney Spears' right to visit her two sons and keeping them in ex-husband Kevin Federline's custody.
The ruling by Commissioner Scott Gordon came after a full day of testimony on a bizarre incident earlier this month in which police had Spears taken to a hospital after a standoff in her home when she refused to return the children to Federline's bodyguard after a visit.
Gordon scheduled another hearing for Feb. 19.
Spears came to the courthouse briefly during the afternoon but never went inside. Instead, she left in a swarm of paparazzi.
The hearing in family law court was held behind closed doors after reporters were ordered to leave.
Court spokesman Allan Parachini said those who testified were two Los Angeles police officers; Paula Strong, the court-appointed monitor who was present for the visit at Spears home; Lisa Hacker, a parenting coach who has been working with Spears and Federline; and Lonnie Jones, the bodyguard who went to the home to get the children.
Parachini did not reveal what the witnesses said during their testimony.
Earlier Monday, Spears sparked a frenzy around the courthouse. She was brought into a civic center garage in an SUV, but only two of her attorneys got out before the vehicle left.
The vehicle then appeared to circle the block as paparazzi ran in a frenzy to film it.
Court spokesman Allan Parachini said she appeared to have left without ever going up to the courtroom.
Spears was later spotted at a Los Angeles mall eating lunch. More paparazzi waited for her outside, then snapped away as she exited in the waiting SUV and headed for home.
Earlier in the day, according to OK! magazine, Spears visited the Little Brown Church in Van Nuys, Calif. with her recent companion, photographer Adnan Ghalib.
"The church is a place of prayer open 24 hours of day for people seeking peace," a spokesperson for the church told the magazine. The pastor was out of town attending a funeral, the spokesperson said.
Federline and his lawyer were on hand as Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon began the hearing that morning, which was scheduled after Gordon had suspended Spears' right to visit her sons earlier this month.
Gordon allowed reporters into the courtroom for about one minute before he announced that the hearing was being closed.
The commissioner granted a motion from Spears' attorneys to quash a subpoena, but there was no information given about what the subpoena involved or to whom it had been issued.
Photos: Standoff At Britney's
A throng of photographers and reporters waited outside the downtown courthouse to see if Spears would come to what one attorney described as "the most significant hearing in the case so far." Law enforcement officers watched over the scene.
Spears has had trouble making recent legal dates: On Dec. 12, she called in sick for a court-ordered deposition, then arrived nearly two hours late at an attorney's office on its rescheduled date, Jan. 3.
Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, told The Associated Press on Sunday that he didn't know if Spears would come to Monday's hearing, and he indicated that it would be important for her to be there to take the opportunity to try to persuade the court to restore visitation.
"You can't phone this one in," he said.
Ok! magazine reported that Spears was out late into the evening last night, pounding down Red Bulls and, according to witnesses, visiting no less than five pharmacies.
By 5 a.m. PT, it was already a media circus outside the L.A. Superior Courthouse.
"It's a big day," one police officer on the scene told OK!, saying the gathered reporters and photographers might not get the shot they're looking for. "I don't expect Britney to just roll up to the front door."
Police and emergency medical technicians who were summoned to Spears' home the night of Jan. 3 in a standoff involving her refusal to return the boys to ex-husband Federline were expected to testify Monday, probably behind closed doors, Kaplan said.
Kaplan said he knew it was only a temporary measure when he obtained emergency court orders two weeks ago granting sole physical and legal custody to Federline.
Police were called by a court-appointed monitor on Jan. 3 when Spears refused to hand over Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2, to Federline's security guard. She locked herself in a room with one of the boys.
Police officers spent hours at the house and then called Fire Department paramedics who placed her on a gurney and hauled her away to a hospital with a crowd of paparazzi in pursuit. Spears left Cedars-Sinai Medical Center a day and half later.
Police have released no information about why Spears was taken to the hospital. TV's "Dr. Phil" McGraw told celebrity news programs he was with Spears as she was released, saying she was in "dire" need of medical and psychological help. That drew a rebuke from Spears' relatives.
The day after the incident, Kaplan presented papers to the court commissioner, who awarded sole legal and physical custody of the boys to Federline and suspended Spears' visitation rights.
Kaplan said if visitation is restored, it would be under more restrictions than those originally imposed by Gordon.