Lohan Lands Back In Jail, But Can Post Bail
BEVERLY HILLS (CBS/AP) - A judge said late Friday that Lindsay Lohan can be released on $300,000 bail after the actress appealed another judge's decision to send her to jail for nearly a month.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg set the amount Friday evening. Lohan was whisked from a Beverly Hills court Friday morning after Judge Elden S. Fox said she should be held without bail until an Oct. 22 hearing.
The judge's decision came after the "Mean Girls" star failed a court-ordered drug test after being released from rehab last month.
Lohan remains in an isolation unit of a women's jail in suburban Los Angeles, where she spent 14 days after a previous judge determined she violated the terms of her probation.
Bailiffs escorted the troubled starlet from the Beverly Hills courtroom immediately after the morning hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes. She arrived at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood a short time later, with sheets held up around her to shield her from sight.
It was to be Lohan's third jail stint for a 3-year-old drug and drunken driving case filed after a pair of high-profile arrests in 2007.
Before the hearing, the star chatted with her attorney, smiling and laughing. But moments before Judge Fox took the bench, she began fidgeting with her earrings and looking to the back of the courtroom, where two bondsmen, prepared to post the actress' bail.
Lohan's attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, asked Fox whether Lohan's full probation revocation hearing could be delayed a week.
"I think your client would rather have it on Oct. 22," Fox said, giving the first hint that he intended to send the actress to jail.
Holley rose to argue that bail should be set. "Nope," Fox replied.
"Oh God," Michael Lohan said as bailiffs moved in and his daughter rose and was handcuffed.
Lohan has twice been released early because of overcrowding, with her longest jail stay a 14-day stint on a 90-day sentence earlier this summer.
"When you put the judge in a tight spot, he has no alternative," said Barry Gerald Sands, a defense attorney who has represented celebrity clients in drug cases. "This judge feels he didn't have to set bail."
Fox said Lohan had a "positive test for a controlled substance" that he did not identify. He said probation officials are also reviewing Lohan's compliance with other aspects of her probation, which included frequent meetings with counselors.
"I think that the case law is clear that she is entitled to bail," Holley said after the hearing and prior to winning on appeal.
Los Angeles television stations followed a car said to be carrying Lohan to jail.
She and her mother had arrived at the courthouse together an hour before, while the actress's father—with whom she's publicly sparred—arrived earlier.
The actress acknowledged failing a court-ordered drug screening last week in a series of Twitter postings.
It was the star's first appearance before Fox, who had said at a previous hearing he would sentence her to a month in jail for each drug test she skipped or failed.
The actress wasn't present for that hearing, which was held hours after her release from rehab.
Lohan seemed to acknowledge an addiction problem after news of her positive drug test broke last week.
"Substance abuse is a disease, which unfortunately doesn't go away over night," Lohan posted on her Twitter feed last Friday. "I am working hard to overcome it and am taking positive steps.
"This is certainly a setback for me but I am taking responsibility for my actions and I'm prepared to face the consequences," her posts said.
The actress remains on probation for a reckless driving and two driving under the influence charges, all misdemeanors. Fox dropped two drug cases at a hearing in August during which he announced Lohan's release from rehab and set out a strict outpatient treatment schedule that included random drug screenings.
Fox has sealed Lohan's court file, but a source familiar with the case has told the Associated Press that the actress' failed test came roughly two weeks after her release from rehab.
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