Retired NBA superstar Charles Barkley has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for two counts of DUI. According to the court documents, Barkley will only be required to serve five of those days if he completes an alcohol education program. Barkley was also given a $2,000 fine. He probably drops more cash than that in a single night at the strip clubs. Ah, celebrity justice.

Hope they’ve got XXXXL jumpsuits in AZ, ’cause Charles Barkley is officially going to jail.

Barkley just pleaded guilty to 2 counts of driving under the influence and pleaded “responsible” to running a stop sign for the December 31st incident in Scottsdale.

Barkley was sentenced to 10 days in jail — but will only do five if he completes an alcohol education program. Barkley was also fined $2,000.

Barkley will begin his sentence on March 21 — but it’s unclear if he will serve time in Arizona’s famed Tent City Jail, where they make the inmates wear pink.

As for the gun cops say they found in Barkley’s car on the night of the arrest — no charges were ever filed.

[From TMZ]

Since his DUI arrest, Barkley managed to keep his job on the TNT network as an NBA commentator and has apologized multiple times for the incident. In a live broadcast following the arrest, Barkley told viewers, “Clearly everybody knows I got a DUI. That’s unacceptable, 100% my fault. I screwed up, I made a mistake, I’m sorry, I apologize.” It does appear that he’s willing to accept the consequences for his stupidity- but I can’t help but wonder if he’d be getting off so easily if his name wasn’t Charles Barkley.

Charles Barkley is shown on 7/20/08 at Ante up for Africa. Credit: WENN

As you may remember, Shia LaBeouf was arrested for drunk driving this past July. LaBeouf was in a car crash in which two cars were totaled. As it turns out, the accident wasn’t Shia’s fault – the other driver had run a red light. LaBeouf refused to take a Breathalizer at the scene and police placed him under arrest because it was apparent to them Shia was drunk. As CB previously reported, while Shia was booked for a misdemeanor DUI, the prosecutors declined to file a formal charge. Now we learn that Shia is walking away with a one-year suspended license.

Shia LaBeouf’s driver’s license has been suspended for at least one year as a result of his July 27 car crash, People confirms.

The suspension took effect on Jan. 17 because LaBeouf, 22, “refused a chemical test” after officers pulled him over, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. S. Wolf told the Associated Press in July that officers responding found it “immediately apparent” that LaBeouf was intoxicated, and he was placed under arrest.

The actor was booked for a misdemeanor DUI, but the LA. County District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges due to insufficient evidence. At the time, the DA’s office said that prosecutors instead planned to file criminal charges against the other driver, who was found to have run a red light.

From People Magazine

This kind of thing really upsets me. I can’t believe that California laws are so lax as to allow for this kind of slap on the wrists when it comes to drunk driving. Even though the actual car accident wasn’t Shia’s fault, he shouldn’t be allowed to get away with drunk driving – no one should, at least not without paying a bigger penalty than a suspended license. Make the penalties higher, like a year in jail. Or a suspended license for life. Or an exorbitant fine. Then more people might really think about what they’re doing before they get behind the wheel.

Shia LaBeouf is shown at a Lakers Game on 11/30/08. Credit: Splash News

Dr. Jan Adams, the plastic surgeon who operated on Kanye West’s mother the day before she died, has been sentenced to a year in county jail for a DUI he received in June.  Adams was caught driving in his Jaguar the wrong way on Interstate 680 near Cordelia with a blood alcohol level of .20 percent, more than twice the legal limit in California.  He was caught trying to exit the highway on an off-ramp, also going the wrong way.  He plead no contest and was given his sentence on Monday.

Solano County Superior Court Commissioner Ray Wieser handed down the sentence in Vallejo Monday morning after Adams’ defense counsel, Michael Cardoza, told the court that Adams did not want probation but was prepared to serve straight jail time for the offense. Wieser subsequently sentenced Adams to one year in Solano County Jail with credit for eight days previously served in custody.

Execution of sentence was stayed until 8:30 a.m. Feb. 6 to allow Adams time to address a probation violation case in Los Angeles.

[from Daily Democrat]

This man spends a lot of time in the court room.  After the Donda West tragedy, it came to light that he had several malpractice suits website, in which he calls himself the “Original Dr. Jan Adams,” claims that he graduated from Harvard, but fails to mention that he is not board-certified.  His certification in the state of California was revoked when he failed to pay child support.

Oprah’s history of unwittingly inviting frauds to appear on her show seems to be getting longer, longer and longer.

Jan Adams is shown leaving the Larry King show on 11/20/07. Credit: Splash News

I’ve decided that Charles Barkley is the most honest and the most insane person I’ve heard of in a long, long time. Yesterday it was revealed that he was arrested on suspicion of DUI. There wasn’t much information at the time other than that he was pulled over at a mobile DUI checkpoint in Arizona and had his blood drawn. Now TMZ has some truly jaw-dropping details about what Barkley said to police. Most notably, that he was driving fast so he could get a beej. But that’s an excuse we’ve all used for speeding, right?

This may be the very best police report of 2008. When Charles Barkley was busted in Arizona early this morning for DUI, he told cops he ran a stop sign because he was in a hurry to get some oral sex.

According to the officer who wrote the report, “He told me that he ran the stop sign because he was in a hurry to pick up the girl I saw get in the passenger seat.”

The officer continues: “He asked me to admit that she was ‘hot.’ He asked me, ‘You want the truth?’ When I told him I did he said, ‘I was gonna drive around the corner and get a b**w job. He then explained that she had given him a ‘b**w job’ one week earlier and said it was the best one he had ever had in his life.”

The report says when Barkley was taken to the station, he told one of the employees, “I’ll tattoo my name on your ass” if he helped “get him out of the DUI.” According to the report, “He laughed and then quickly corrected himself and said, ‘I’ll tattoo your name on my ass’ and then laughed again.”

The report also says officers “found a handgun in the vehicle” which was immediately impounded. The report doesn’t say if the handgun was legal or not, and the only thing that we know for sure was loaded…

[From TMZ]

From now on, whenever I want to bribe someone into doing something, I’m going to offer to tattoo their name on my ass. I can’t see what better incentive there is. And if I’m drunk, I’ll offer to tattoo my name on their ass, just like Barkley did.

I’m guessing Barkley was being honest – why else would he say such a thing? I doubt it’s going to win him any points with the police. There’s still no word on what his BAC was – and as Celebitchy pointed out yesterday, he’s 6’6 and has put on some weight, so it would likely take a crazy amount of alcohol to get him drunk. But it’s certainly not impossible. Barkley’s still really taking his whole, “athletes shouldn’t be role models” thing to heart, even after all this time.

Images thanks to Mavrix.

TMZ reports that 45 year-old retired NBA player Charles Barkley has been arrested and released on suspicion of DUI. The sports commentator was stopped at a mobile DUI checkpoint in Arizona this morning and was seen getting blood drawn. He was then released and took a taxi home.

There are pictures on TMZ but not much more information about it. While Barkley looks sober enough you can’t really tell from photos. He’s probably awaiting the results of the bloodwork that will determine whether he will be officially charged.

The guy is 6’6″ tall and he’s gained some weight since his professional career ended in 2000. It must take a lot to get him drunk and maybe he had some drinks that led police to suspect he was intoxicated but it’s possible he wasn’t over the legal limit of .08 in Arizona.

Barkley played professional basketball for 16 years, from 1984 to 2000. He was known for his skill and domineering personality on the court and his fights with other players. In 1993, Barkley famously said that sports stars shouldn’t be role models. He claimed that it wasn’t realistic for children to aspire to become high paid professional players and that “A million guys can dunk a basketball in jail; should they be role models?”

Since retiring, Barkley has admitted to gambling away millions of his earnings. He claims it’s not a problem for him as he has the money to waste.

Barkley has announced that he intends to run as an Independent for governor of his home state of Alabama in 2014 after he completes the seven year residency requirements for a run. If he ends up having a DUI on his record it’s not going to bode well for his campaign no matter how well known he is.

[some factual details from Wikipedia]

Charles Barkley is shown at the Stand Up 2 Cancer benefit on 9/5/08. Credit: WENN

Sean Combs has decided to do good this New Year’s Eve.  He and his team have joined forces with New York’s Taxi and Limousine Commission to provide free cab rides home to New Yorkers who choose to celebrate the holiday with bottles of booze.  $15 vouchers will be handed out at Times Square and in Chelsea from Wednesday at 11pm until early in the morning on Thursday.  Combs says that even though New Years Eve should be fun, that doesn’t mean people should be taking risks:

New York is the world’s most iconic New Year’s Eve city, so let’s lead by example and show everyone that a sophisticated holiday celebration doesn’t just end when the ball drops, but when everyone gets home safely.

[from ContactMusic]

This is sort of like a PSA in action.  Instead of filming an ad, he’s actually taking it to the streets.  That sounds pretty good to me.  I’m wondering what the response would be if someone like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Barron Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, Shia LeBeouf, Heather Locklear, or even Mischa Barton (to name a few) had thought of this.  At least Sean Combs/Puff Daddy/P Diddy (just pick one!) isn’t being a complete hypocrite here.  Still, I wonder how many people will take him up on this.  Sure, it’s a free cab ride, but if you’re going to be a moron and drive drunk, you’re going to be a moron and drive drunk.

But he may have an ulterior motive to all of this. He also wants to redesign the New Year’s Eve Ball to resemble the “well-known blue stone emblem” of his brand of vodka, Ciroc.  He’s promised to give $1 million to charity if the city lets him go through with it.  That’s not a charity donation; that’s a payment for an advertisement.  But if he looks like he’s doing good by giving out free cab credits to revelers who may have gotten drunk on his vodka, he might get the public on his side.

Clever, but somehow I doubt Michael Bloomberg would agree.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Diddy and his son, Justin Combs, getting some last minute Christmas Eve shopping done on Robertson Blvd. in Los Angeles. Images thanks to Fame. Header of promo flyer for Diddy’s New Years Eve party. Images thanks to Mavrix.

Keifer Sutherland spent 48 days last year in jail after he was busted for DUI in September, 2007, his second DUI conviction in under five years. Sutherland was behind bars for his birthday, Christmas, and New Years and said he only had one visitor during that time.

The “24″ star recently talked about his jail experience, but instead of revealing the emotional trials of being incarcerated he focused on the facts, and they’re sobering enough. Sutherland said the lights were on all the time and prisoners couldn’t cover their face. He also had a cellmate and no privacy, along with being unable to smoke, a habit he has since picked up again:

“There’s no smoking,” Sutherland, 41, tells Men’s Vogue in its December/January issue, which hits newsstands Nov. 25. “The lights never go out, 24/7. You can’t cover anything. You can’t even put your head under a blanket. All the cells have cameras in them.”

Although Sutherland has resumed smoking, the knowledge that he could go 48 days without his Camels is a comforting thought.

“My drinking was not a daily thing, so it wasn’t an issue. And, oddly enough, neither was the smoking,” he tells the magazine, adding, “I was very glad to know that I could quit. And one day soon I will.”

One thing that didn’t work out, he says, was the roommate situation.

“I was told, you know, ‘You’ll have your own cell.’ But I didn’t for the first two or three weeks; I had a cell mate,” he says. “He got out – but not for long. He came back in pretty quick.”

[From People]

Sutherland had the option of leaving jail after 18 days to go film “24,” after which he would have been obligated to return and serve out his sentence. He chose to stay for the full 48 days though, as shooting for the show was delayed due to the writer’s strike. It’s not a picnic to be in jail, but it sounds like Sutherland go through it ok. Maybe he’s learned his lesson and will call a cab or have a friend drive him home next time.

Sutherland is shown on the beach in Malibu on 8/31/08. Credit: Fame

Recap: Lohan’s carjacking car chase
In July of 2007, Lindsay Lohan was involved in an extremely dangerous high speed car chase in which she which she carjacked the SUV of a guy she met that night, took two passengers hostage and ran over another guy’s foot. Apparently she was at a party, her assistant quit and tried to leave, and she took off chasing her in another guy’s car after snatching his keys. There were initially three guys in the car with Lohan, but one jumped out and Lindsay ran over his foot, never going back to check on him. The other two guys sat there terrified while she drukenly wove through traffic and blew through stop signs, supposedly saying things like “I’m a celebrity, I can do whatever I want.” Eventually the assistant led Lohan to the parking lot of a police station, having notified the authorities that she was being followed. Lohan failed the field sobriety test and was caught with a small amount of cocaine, which she claims was not hers. She plead guilty to DUI and received a day in jail and just 10 days of community service, despite the fact that she was driving on a suspended license and had a prior DUI.

In January of this year, the former assistant Lindsay was chasing sued her for emotional distress and unspecified damages, claiming she lost her job and spent thousands on therapists bills trying to get over the incident.

Now the three guys in the car with Lohan have filed suit against her, saying she endangered their lives. They are seeking more than $25,000 in damages:

A wild ride that led to Lindsay Lohan’s arrest has sparked another lawsuit.

Court records show that three men who claim they were in a sport utility vehicle that Lohan commandeered in July 2007 sued the “Mean Girls” star last week. Their allegations include battery, false imprisonment and that the actress was negligent when she allegedly took over an SUV belonging to one of the men to chase her recently fired assistant.

That chase ended when the assistant’s mother called police because she was being followed and led Lohan toward a police station. Officers suspected Lohan was drunk and arrested her.
Lohan eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of being under the influence of cocaine stemming from the Santa Monica arrest and an earlier drunken driving arrest in Beverly Hills. She served 84 minutes in jail and entered rehab.

Lohan’s attorney, Ed McPherson, called the lawsuit “absurd.”
He claimed the men were having fun during the chase and questioned why they waited more than a year to file suit. “It just doesn’t make sense,” McPherson said. “They had ample opportunity to get out of the car.

“It’s three guys who want to get a lot of headlines,” he said, “and want to make some money.”
An attorney for the men, identified as Ronnie Blake, Jakon Sutter and Dante Nigro, had said last year he hoped to avoid filing a lawsuit against Lohan. McPherson said there were some early talks, but no settlement was reached.

[From Ap.Google.com]

If Lohan had any sense she would have settled this case, but maybe these guys are holding out for more money. I watched all their videos on TMZ describing what happened and they all seemed credible and genuinely terrified by what happened to them. They detailed Lohan’s very reckless driving that easily could have killed someone, including doing circles around her assistant’s car on the Pacific Coast Highway. If this case goes to trial Lindsay could easily lose a lot of cash – if she has anything left after all those luxury goods she’s been buying.

Lindsay Lohan is shown on 10/14/08 at the “Saks Fifth Avenue Launches 10th Annual ‘Key To The Cure Charity Event’” in NY. Credit: Patricia Schlein/WENN

The Heather Locklear DUI case just keeps getting more interesting. Locklear was arrested by cops on suspicion of DUI on Saturday. She was not driving at the time of the arrest, but was said to be acting erratically and her car was nearby.

The person who called the cops on Heather is a former US Weekly staffer who is under investigation by the FBI for downloading celebrity contact information after she left the magazine. What’s more is that it’s just come out that the woman runs a paparazzi agency. Now the questions are whether Heather was really impaired or not, and if she was set up by the woman. Heather did pass the on-scene breathalyser, but cops say she seemed impaired. If she was under the influence of something it may not matter if this woman was following her, waiting to pounce. Here are reports that are coming out on both sides of this story.

California Highway Patrol: Locklear had ‘obvious impairment’; witness’ vested interest has ‘no bearing on the case’
TMZ has the police report from the CHP, which states Locklear was obviously impaired. They also talked to a police source who says that it’s not that important if the woman who called police did it for the photos and story. It’s about whether Heather was too impaired to drive or not.

The woman who reported the DUI also runs a paparazzi agency and was likely following Locklear ahead of calling the cops
So far TMZ’s reports state that the woman who called the cops on Locklear, Jill Ishkanian, called a photographer immediately, although Ishkanian denies this. They made it seem like she just happened to know the person through her ties to US Weekly, because that’s what she told them. Ishkanian in fact owns a paparazzi agency, Sunset Photo & News, according to an Associated Press report. What’s more is that the sequence of photos put out by Ishkanian suggest that she was following Locklear well ahead of the time that she claims she just happened to run into her driving erratically. According to E! Online, Ishkanian was paid $27,000 by TMZ for the photos of Locklear’s arrest.

Witness claims Locklear looked fine and not out of it at all
E! Online has a witness who saw Locklear leaving a store right before the cops arrived. That person says that “She seemed to be acting normal, totally normal. She was just really messy, but not drunk.” They even include the guy’s name in the story, so it sounds like a legitimate report.

The DA’s office says they’re waiting for the results of the toxicology report to see if they’re going to officially charge Locklear with DUI. The CHP’s “drug recognition expert” claimed that she did seem to be “under the influence of an unspecified drug.”

This brings up all sorts of issues about paparazzi photographers trying to create the news instead of just document it. I’m reminded of something George Clooney said earlier this year about the paparazzi:

“These people are being paid so much that they are willing to commit crimes, to break into your house, to cut you off in traffic, to run lights, to slam on the brakes in front of you, to get the money shot. It’s creating bounty hunters.”

Ishkanian cashed in to the tune of $27,000 for reporting Locklear to the police. Whether Locklear needed to be reported or not is yet to be determined.

Heather Locklear is shown filming the Lifetime movie “Flirting with 40″ in Hawaii on 5/1/08. Credit: Tina Lau / PR Photos

Yesterday when the news came out that Heather Locklear’s DUI arrest came after someone called the cops on her it sounded like a typical good samaritan case. E! reported that someone witnessed Heather driving over sunglasses in a parking lot, and then somehow later ran into her wandering in traffic after she pulled her car over to the side of the road. At the very least it sounded like the person who called the cops had followed her after the parking lot incident and didn’t just happen to later see her behaving strangely. It turns out that reality might be a lot more sinister for Locklear and that she may have been set up by a stalker – or at least someone who was following her and orchestrated her arrest.

The person who called 911 on Heather and who tipped off the paparazzi is a nefarious character who used to work at US Weekly and is under FBI investigation for downloading celebrity contact information. She happened to be following Heather at the time and it sounds like Locklear’s behavior wasn’t all that strange before this woman called the police:

This is the craziest story ever. The woman who called 911 on Heather Locklear is a former Us Weekly staffer who was under investigation by the FBI — and she’s the one who tipped off the paparazzi!

Jill Ishkanian, who allegedly hacked into Us Weekly’s computer system to locate celebs after she left the mag, was following Locklear in the Montecito area. Ishkanian watched the actress go to a market. When Heather got in her car, Ishkanian called 911, even though the car wasn’t even moving at the time.

Now get this — sources say immediately after Ishkanian called 911, she called a paparazzi agency to give them the heads up Heather was about to be popped. TMZ obtained those photos, not knowing it was Ishkanian who set the ball in motion.

And it gets worse. Ishkanian apparently is the only witness who says Lockelear was driving erratically and that she was drunk, even though it’s already established she was not under the influence of alcohol.

Sound underhanded? That’s what we’re thinking …

[From TMZ]

Cops did say Locklear exhibited signs of impairment although it sounds like she passed the breathalyser. I wonder if this same Ishkanian person is the one who called 911 on Heather way back in March when it was claimed that she was about to attempt suicide but it turned out to be nothing. The news at the time had Heather’s psychiatrist calling 911 after she said she wanted to die, but it could have been someone else. She did go to rehab and it sounds like she has a genuine substance abuse problem. No one deserves to get set up like that though – unless they really are driving under the influence of something. We’ll have to see what more information comes out about this and if the ex US Weekly staffer is brought to task.

TMZ has many paparazzi photos taken on the scene and in some pictures Heather has a visible belly that some people suggest might be a pregnancy. (See the second page of the photos, near the bottom.) It looks somewhat suspicious, but it could be a normal stomach that’s poking out. Heather is 47 and looks fabulous.

Heather Locklear is shown at the Ivy on 5/14/08. Credit: WENN