DA Rolls Over on Britney Foot-Fault Case
Britney Spears’ hands are clean as far as the paparazzi’s feet are concerned.
The Los Angeles District Attorney has declined to file charges against the tarnished popster, stemming from a photographer’s claim that she drove over his foot in November while attempting to steer through the usual shutterbug scrum outside the Four Seasons hotel, News confirms.
After reviewing footage of the crowd at the scene, shot by one of the paparazzi on hand, authorities concluded that the “only way the victim’s foot could have been where the video indicates it to be was by the victim placing it in that location,” according to the district attorney’s report. “There was a lot of noise and confusion as the photographers were jockeying for position. (View the report.)
Spears told police at the time she had no recollection of her car coming into contact with anyone as she motored away from the hotel. The district attorney agreed that there was no evidence to prove the “Gimme More” singer was aware she was voluntarily leaving the scene of an accident.
The accusatory photog filed a complaint in Maysix months after the alleged incidentasking that Spears be charged with a felony for leaving the scene of an accident involving an injury.
But Spears ended up escaping the Great Rollover Epidemic of 2007 relatively unscathed. She was also never prosecuted for grazing a sheriff’s deputy’s foot, and a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge for leaving the scene after bumping into a parked car last year was dropped after she settled up with the owner of the other vehicle.
John Cusack Fan Gets a Doctor’s Appointment
The doctor is in.
Not quite convinced that she’s fit to stand trial, a judge has ordered that the woman accused of stalking John Cusack be examined by a psychiatrist before the case proceeds.
Emily Leatherman was charged with felony stalking and two misdemeanor counts of disobeying a restraining order and petty theft after being arrested March 30 when police found her too close to Cusack’s Malibu home for comfort.
The complaint against her alleges she has been making untoward attempts to contact the High Fidelity star since February 2007.
L.A. Superior Court Judge Susan M. Speer ordered both sides back in court July 11.
Leatherman, who has pleaded not guilty to all of the above and has been behind bars since her arrest, is facing up to four years in prison if convicted.
Orlando Bloom Thanks His Lucky Stars
Orlando Bloom Thanks His Lucky Stars
As a follow up to the story we ran last month about Orlando Bloom’s late-night paparazzi-induced car crash, the Englishman opened up to Larry King on his talk show recently.
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor told King that even though one of his friends suffered a fractured neck as a result of the accident, he feels lucky that emergency services reacted so quickly.
Bloom said, “It wasn’t a very pleasant situation. But yeah, it is all being resolved. And thankfully, you know, everyone involved is safe and making swift recovery.”
“The police and emergency services came remarkably quickly, we were very lucky.” And despite initial reports that the “Lord of the Rings” stud tried to flee the scene of the accident, police say that he wasn’t guilty of felony hit and run.
Dennis Farina Staring Down Gun Charges
Dennis Farina is still on the same bad trip.
The former Law & Order star was hit Wednesday with three misdemeanor weapons charges stemming from his arrest at LAX last month, when he attempted to board a flight with a loaded semiautomatic pistol in his briefcase.
While the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office opted not to pursue the matter as a felony, the L.A. City Attorney has charged Farina with carrying a weapon into a secured area, possession of a concealed weapon and possession of a loaded weapon in a public place.
“We felt it more than appropriate to file these three misdemeanor charges,” City Attorney’s Office spokesman Frank Mateljan told News. “They found a .22 caliber handgun in his luggage when he was going through an airport security checkpoint. It’s never safe or advisable to bring a loaded weapon into an airport.”
The actor told police at the time that he completely forgot he had the gun in his bag when he went through security.
Following his release from custody on $35,000 bail, the onetime Chicago cop blamed his “own stupidity” for the situation. “I’ll be spending the next few days kicking my own ass,” he said. “No one is more embarrassed than myself.”
Farina is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday. His attorney couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
If convicted on all charges, he is looking at a maximum of two and a half years in jail and more than $3,000 in fines.
Additional reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum