As we discussed last week, Chris Pine was arrested and charged with a DUI in New Zealand just after the wrap-party for his latest film, Z for Zachariah. According to witnesses, Chris had been in a good mood at the wrap-party (which took place in some bar) and he had a few beers (that was according to NZ reports). When various people offered to give him a ride home (I’m assuming back to his hotel), Chris declined and drove himself. He was stopped by the police and he blew a .11 blood alcohol level. Which is not really hammered, but buzzed (buzzed driving is still really dangerous). Anyway, Chris was in court today and he pled guilty to the DUI and he came clean about what happened and how sorry he was:

Chris Pine pleaded guilty Monday in a New Zealand court to a charge of drunken driving. The Star Trek actor was fined $93 New Zealand dollars ($79) and had his New Zealand driver’s license suspended for six months during a hearing at the Ashburton District Court.

Police pulled over Pine early on March 1 after he’d attended a party to mark the end of filming on the movie Z for Zachariah which is due for release next year. Fairfax Media reported that Pine, 33, told police he’d consumed four vodka drinks.

Police told the court that a blood test found Pine’s blood-alcohol level was 0.11 percent, which is over New Zealand’s legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Pine stood silently during the hearing, allowing his lawyer, Marilyn Gilchrist to enter the plea.

According to Fairfax, Gilchrist told the judge that Pine acknowledged he’d made the wrong decision to drive that night. Gilchrist said her client had suffered emotionally and professionally and that the negative publicity had put his acting contracts in jeopardy.

The judge said she accepted Pine was “entirely remorseful,” Fairfax reported.

The Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit star appeared relaxed as he left the courtroom, stopping to sign a couple of autographs for fans who had gathered outside before being driven away. Much of the filming of Z for Zachariah took place on the South Island’s picturesque Banks Peninsula.

Before being pulled over by police, Pine had been at the Blue Pub in Methven with his Icelandic girlfriend, Iris Bjork Johannesdottir.

“The pub was closed to the public later in the evening and approximately 80 actors and crew attended the party, which finished at 3 a.m. on March 1,” the bar said in a statement. “This was a well-controlled party, the cast and crew were friendly and it was a great night, not a wild party.”

The statement said that “Chris Pine did not appear to staff to be intoxicated to a level where intervention might have been warranted.”

[From People]

I like him more for not contesting the arrest or the blood alcohol tests or anything. I mean, I’m not saying he’s blameless or that he doesn’t deserve some shade for driving under the influence – he’s old enough and smart enough to know better – but I also kind of wonder if Chris had a few cocktails over the course of several hours and he honestly thought he was fine to drive. I mean, four vodka cocktails would be a lot to consume over an hour, but over three hours, for a man Pine’s size? Some people might be okay to drive. So, I appreciate that A) Chris wasn’t some drunken mess at the party, B) that he might have made an honest mistake in judging his own level of buzzed-ness and C) that he’s not an entitled douchebag when he got caught doing something wrong.

I still feel sort of guilty for finding him so attractive though. Damn it! I have to keep reminding myself that he dates “lingerie models” and reality stars.

Photos courtesy of WENN.