Posted on 10/09/2007 10:16:56 PM PDT by yorkie
LOS ANGELES - It's 48 days in the clink for "24" star Kiefer Sutherland.
The Emmy-winning actor who plays all-American hero Jack Bauer on the hit Fox TV series pleaded no contest to a single DUI count on Tuesday in a deal that leaves little room for one of his signature TV escapes.
Sutherland must serve 18 days starting Dec. 21 to pay for the fact that his recent drunk-driving bust violated the probation terms of his 2004 DUI conviction. Cushy house arrest with electronic monitoring is strictly forbidden. He then must serve another 30 days by July, with no Paris Hilton-style reprieve, officials said.
"He has to serve the time ... [There's] no credit for overcrowding," said Frank Mateljan, spokesman for Los Angeles city prosecutor Rocky Delgadillo.
Sutherland, now a twice-convicted drunk driver, was busted last month after making an illegal U-turn in West Hollywood and flunking a breath test at the scene.
"I'm very disappointed in myself for the poor judgment I exhibited," Sutherland, 40 said in a statement. "I'm deeply sorry for the disappointment and distress this has caused my family, friends and coworkers on 24 and at 20th Century Fox."
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Hopefully he can still save the world once he gets out of jail.
Lock him up, let him dry out and learn a lesson.
will they have that stupid liitle clock in the bottom right-hand corner of his jail cell counting down the time until his release?
Maybe he’ll get some cool tatoos while in the joint.
Tattoos.
Interesting replies.......
Yes, because apparently he didn’t learn it the first time.
Indeed.
My first thoughts on hearing about this were along the lines of "how easily is he going to be treated, compared with the 'average' person?"
Unfortunately, the Daily News article doesn't address such an obvious question, and so a moment of online activity brought me here:
which essentially 'answers' my question with "it all depends". Not a helpful site, and several others I checked were not much better.
My interest level in this is quite limited, as I'm not a Californian and have scrupulously avoided driving the stoatmobile under even the very most minor levels of attitudinal adjustment, so my interest is an academic one only.
I have the impression that here in Washington the laws are quite strict (although probably not nearly strict enough) and with mandatory minimum penalties.....but it's something that I've never looked into in depth because I never, ever, mix drinking and driving.
A face full of windshield glass doesn't enhance the complexion.
It looks like Mr. Sutherland may be looking at 'slightly' more bother as a result of this than the mandatorily-edited FR version of the article allowed. Here at the very end:
The actor must also complete an 18-month alcohol-education program and get therapy.
It sounds only slightly worse than the required 'rehab' that celebrities undergo after they slip and call a co-worker a f*g in public.
I guess we at least know the sheriff down there is straight.
Kiefer will also face the loss of his license for a year, probation including mandatory alcohol/drug testing weekly, alcohol school, mandatory 12 step meetings, etc.
It costs a lot of money, which he can easily pay. But it is also a big inconvenience.
Should he violate the terms of probation, back to jail he can go. Smart people at this stage, realize they are probably alcoholics, who cannot drink safely, at all.
But are Hollywood actors/actresses ‘smart’?
If they were, they would quit drinking and driving - or at least ‘hire a driver’.
“But are Hollywood actors/actresses ‘smart’?”
It might surprise you that some are, indeed. Actor Anthony Hopkins has over 20 years sobriety, as does Eric Clapton.
There are quite a few who caught on to their alcoholism, and accepted the only known treatment: total abstinence.
Glad to see a celeb own up to a DUI for once.
Lots of luck holding him.
Soon we will hear various jail guards have died grizzly deaths with throats ripped out, limbs severed, and eyes hanging by the nerve cord. Common jail kitchen cleaning supplies converted into a high explosive cocktail that blast a large hole in the wall, allowing access to the motor pool parking lot where the Sheriff’s personal car is hotwired.
An hours long chase on the freeways with numerous pursuit cars smashing into explosive fireballs spreading flaming gasoline into major neighborhoods leaving vast sections of the town hidden under thick columns of black smoke, hiding his entry into the marina where a schooner owned by a bikini clad woman with a tattoo on the small of her back is commandeered, and ultimately last seen sailing toward Mexican waters.
Seems obvious enough. Maybe they should reconsider and give him community service.
Yeah......I agree with your comment and you probably are the only one with a substantive reply thus far on the thread.
When I was 40, I had the same delusion that I could drink socially and not pay a price if I drove a car. In my case, it took 4 DWI's spaced out over 15 years before I finally figured out that I could not do that anymore.
Looks like Kieffer is going through the same thing.
BTW, the only workable and effective option is to quit drinking socially or at any time if there is the slightest chance that you may be required to drive. It's the only option that will work and he has to do it. It took me 15 years to figure that out.
30 days in the hole
I doubt that as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that courts could not dictate attendance at 12 step programs due to the religious nature of those programs.
In what could be a blow to the 12-Step Movement's stranglehold over substance abuse treatment, an appellate court has ruled that a parolee cannot be ordered into a treatment program that uses the model.
At least eight other federal and state courts have issued similar opinions in the past, holding that coerced treatment in a religion-based program is unconstitutional. On Friday, the Ninth District Court of Appeals reiterated that precedent.
The case involved a Buddhist, Ricky Inouye of Hawaii, who had objected to religiously oriented drug treatment while in prison on a drug case. Over his objection, his parole agent ordered him to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings after a urinalysis tested positive for drugs. He has since died, but Friday's ruling allows his son to continue Inouye's civil lawsuit against his parole agent. The opinion held that Narcotics Anonymous has pronounced religious overtones, including references to God, a "higher power," and prayer.
I will never understand why these millionaire Hollywooders don’t employ full-time private drivers with limos.
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