More Bad News For Britney Spears
A court commissioner gave sole physical and legal custody of Britney Spears' two little boys Friday to ex-husband Kevin Federline and suspended the troubled pop star's visitation rights.
Commissioner Scott Gordon issued a ruling the day after Spears was hauled away from her home by paramedics; police had to intervene when she refused to return the children to Federline after a court-monitored visit.
Gordon ordered another hearing to be held Jan. 14.
Attorneys on both sides met in a closed hearing before Gordon following Spears' hospitalization late Thursday, when there was a standoff at her home over her refusal to turn over the little boys at the end of her court-monitored visit.
Federline attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said Friday afternoon that he was not happy about any of the events and that there were "no winners here."
Federline was previously given temporary custody of 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James because Spears has defied court orders, resulting in limitations on her visitation.
Kaplan said he had been at Spears' hilltop home late Thursday before an ambulance whisked the singer through a throng of paparazzi to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a nearly three-hour standoff with Los Angeles police.
"I was up at the guard gate where (she) lives. I did not go in" to the home, Kaplan said. "I was up there only to bring a document ... that identified the existing court order" about the couple's custody arrangements and visitation schedule. He gave the document to a security guard.
Photos: Standoff At Britney's
Kaplan said he later went to Cedars-Sinai, but he declined to provide any details about Spears, her ex-husband, or their two sons.
Spears' mother, Lynne Spears, also would not disclose any information about her daughter's condition. "Just say prayers," she told the celebrity news show "Access Hollywood" by phone Friday.
Spears was conscious late Thursday when paramedics took her out of her home on a gurney. Several police cars escorted the ambulance out of the neighborhood, followed by dozens of paparazzi.
Photos: Pop Diva Britney
"Entertainment Tonight" correspondent Kevin Frazier told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen Friday he had "learned that there were two ambulances that left Britney's house, one of them carrying her young son, Jayden James."
Timeline: Britney's Meltdown
Hospital spokeswoman Simi Singer wouldn't confirm or deny reports in entertainment media that Spears would be held for 72 hours for psychological evaluation. The reports didn't identify their sources.
Officers were called to Spears' house around 8 p.m. Thursday for an issue involving the custody of her sons, 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James, Harding said.
By about 10:30 p.m., six police cars, two ambulances and a fire truck had entered the gated-community that includes Spears' house. Several police cars were seen in the area earlier in the night.
Spears turned over the children around 10:50 p.m., police said.
From the hospital, Frazier told Chen, "Kevin Federline's guard is standing in front of the emergency room door. He has some kind of veil blocking the door, so that people cannot see in. Inside, it is almost like an armed camp. Three police officers in the hallway, four more in the back room."
Officers were called to her home because she refused to turn over her children to Federline as dictated by their custody agreement.
It took two to three hours to resolve the conflict, said Officer Ana Aguirre.
"There was a time where she was within the residence and wasn't available to be speaking to the officers, apparently," she said. "There was no threat to the children."
"Police resolved the conflict," Aguirre said. "Both children were turned over to her ex-husband Kevin Federline for custody, and she was in fact taken to a local hospital for medical treatment."
Early police reports said officers thought Spears might have been under the influence of some substance but Aguirre said there was no evidence of that.
"Our understanding is that was not the case," she said.
Officers at the scene determined that paramedics "needed to be called" but it was unclear why, she said.
"We're not aware of any type of injuries that she sustained" and she was not combative with authorities, Aguirre said.
Spears wasn't arrested in connection with the custody dispute, Aguirre said.
"There was no actual crime that was involved," the police spokeswoman said.
"Throughout this somewhat contentious custody battle," Frazier observed, "there's been one real constant, and that's been Britney's visitation has been pulled off without a hitch for the most part, until last (Thursday) night."
Spears has appeared increasingly out of control during the past year. She has been photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and out-of-control. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and spent a month in rehab and has had a handful of fender benders, including one in which she ran over a photographer's foot.
She had hoped to regain her pop crown with a much-hyped performance at MTV's Video Music Awards in September, but it was universally panned by fans and critics.
Still, Spears latest album, "Blackout," earned positive reviews when it was released in October and brought Spears her first No. 1 hit in years, "Gimme More."
However, Spears remains a paparazzi target for her bizarre antics, which include frequent stops at gas-station bathrooms and holing up in a hotel room with a paparazzo.
Her 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn, made headlines last month when she announced that she is pregnant.