Was Paris Hilton’s Sentence in line with what others get?

[jimmmy]

I know this might be moved and I am at peace with that.

I know that there is a current thread on this topic in CS and that answers there come close to answering this.

Still, I hoped that with the rigor of SDGQ we could get a semi-nailed down answer.

If I or my neighbor, or you :

*Were arrested and charged with driving under the influence with a blood alcohol content of 0.08, the limit in California, in September 2006.

We pled no contest to the alcohol-related reckless driving charge, and are placed on 36 months’ probation and ordered to pay fines of about $1,500.

Our License is automatically suspended for a year

In March 2007, we are charged with violating the terms of our probation by speeding without headlights on, driving with a suspended license, and failing to enroll in a court-ordered alcohol education program.

We show up to court 15 minutes late
*
**
Would we be sentenced to 45 days in jail for parole violations, and have the judge order where we had to serve the sentence?**

I am really asking because the sensationalism of the media accounts, the delight some have taken in this in the press and elsewhere and the hysterical noises Paris is making as she drags her heavy cross to Golgotha leaves me actually unsure as to the “truth”

[Rick]

:smack:
Just noticed you cited my post in the other thread.
perhaps you missed the last two lines

FWIW about 20 years ago, I had a cow-orker not complete a court ordered alcohol diversion program. The judge threw him in the can for 2 months.
Like I said, don’t piss off a judge.

So the GQ answer is up to 180 days.
The IMHO answer is no, she did not get more than other people have gotten.

[Si_Amigo]

I don’t know about California, but in Ohio you get a permission slip from the judge that states you are allowed to drive back and forth to work. The court gives it to you or your attorney, not your publics relations represenative. Had she taken at least some responsibility for her own actions and paid attention to the details of her own case she would not be looking at jail right now. She should consider this the cost of her education and serve her time like the rest of would have to do.

[Polycarp]

As for the sentence, I mentioned being in court a while ago to take care of my wife’s traffic ticket, and sitting through a rather long and boring calendar.

Twice there were hearings on violation of probation. In one case, it hinged on paying restitution; the judge continued probation, mandating that a substantial percentage of the outstanding restitution be paid within 28 days and a receipt showing same be presented to the Clerk of Court. In the other, probation had been imposed relative to a suspended sentence of 120 days. The judge sentenced the former probationer to 45 days in jail followed by one year’s unsupervised probation – meaning that an arrest within that year would be a separate violation-of-probation charge, but he was otherwise to be free to go after 45 days.

So yes, Paris got just about what any other person would have gotten for a similar charge.

[Rick]

@Si Amigo

I don’t know about California, but in Ohio you get a permission slip from the judge that states you are allowed to drive back and forth to work. The court gives it to you or your attorney, not your publics relations represenative. Had she taken at least some responsibility for her own actions and paid attention to the details of her own case she would not be looking at jail right now. She should consider this the cost of her education and serve her time like the rest of would have to do.

The public relations guy quiting over his “screw up” is pure BS IMHO. Besides the point you bring up, she was stopped twice, and only charged the second time. In the other thread, Little Nemo had a great recap of the events

Hilton was arrested for a DUI back in September. Her license was suspended for three years and she was ordered to sign up for an alcohol awareness class.

She was stopped while driving on January 15. She said she hadn’t known her license was suspended. She was let go with a warning and told to get it renewed. But she also signed a paper acknowleging that she had received the warning. Then she was stopped again on February 27 - she apparently hadn’t made any effort to get her license back and once again claimed that she was unaware of this despite the signed document which was still in her car. It was also found that Hilton had never signed up for the class she was ordered to take.

so the first time she got stopped, maybe just maybe you could blame on the PR flack. The second one is all on her.

FTR I miss-identified Little Nemo as Bear Nemo in the other thread. :smack: Further proof I need more coffee sometime. I’m sorry LN, I screwed up, and I will do my best not to do that again.

[Little_Nemo]

I’m just wondering how you knew I wasn’t wearing clothes.

[Little_Nemo]

I also want to point out that I was wrong about one of the things I posted earlier. Hilton was put on three years’ probation but her license suspension was not for the full three years (I believe it was actually six months but I’m not sure). It was however suspended at the time of these events.

[Billdo]

You may want to check out Pravnik’s post #97 in the Cafe Society thread, in which he states: "In my jurisdiction, 45 days would be pretty much what your average joe would get. "

The linked post has his detailed explanation.

[Neptunian_Slug]

A good friend of the wife got busted 4 years and 11 months into his 5-year probation for a DUI. He got 60 days (with work release) and another year of license suspension.

I cannot believe that Paris is getting anything more harsh.

[Little_Nemo]

Someone in my area got sent to prison big time for DUI last year. And by big time I mean 17 years. He had never injured anyone in an accident but he had been in several accidents and been arrested and convicted numerous times. His license was pretty much permanently suspended but he would keep driving (and drinking). He had been ordered into treatment and given several shorter jail sentences but he wouldn’t change. The judge finally said enough’s enough, it’s clear you’re not going to stop drinking and driving on your own accord and it’s just a matter of time until you kill somebody. So I’m putting you away as long as possible.