DA’s Office Kept Busy Overseeing
Local DUI Dispositions
• Celebrity Names May Mean Additional
Media Interest But that’s the Most Notable Difference
Yes, there is a lot more media
interest in the disposition of cases
involving celebrities, according to the
hardworking spokespersons for the Los Angeles
County District Attorney’s Office, but no, those calls
aren’t handled any differently than all of the other
calls for information on cases wending their way
through the county’s labyrinthian legal system.
Barron Hilton, 18, scion to the Hilton
family fortune and brother of self-perpetuated celebrity
Paris of the same name, pleaded no contest in Malibu
Municipal Court on April 9 to two misdemeanor
counts from a drunk-driving incident last month.
Pleading no contest, or nolo contendere, is
not an admission of guilt, but the charges are not contested.
It was reported that Hilton had a .14 blood alcohol
reading. In California, .08 is considered legal
intoxication for drivers over 21. For drivers under
21, any blood alcohol level constitutes legal
intoxication.
Hilton was given three years summary
probation by Commissioner H. Jay Ford, and his driver license
was suspended for a year.
The most recent Hilton offspring to
attract the legal spotlight was not in court as his lawyer
entered his pleas to drunken driving and possessing a false
driver license, according to district attorney
spokesperson Shiara Davila.
A third charge related to driving under the
influence and a count of being an unlicensed driver were
dismissed in the deal.
Hilton was ordered to pay $2000 in fines
and penalties and participate in three alcohol education
programs, including one run by the state Department
of Motor Vehicles, one that requires a visit to a morgue, and a
third run by Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Hilton was arrested in Malibu Feb. 12
behind the wheel of a 2008 Mercedes-Benz E350 registered to a
Nevada corporation that was spotted weaving on Pacific Coast
Highway.
At some point prior to 8 a.m., he may have
struck another vehicle, a gas station pump and
employee. Hilton faces a June 4 hearing to
determine restitution on these allegations.
Witnesses’ testimony stated that a
19-year-old female passenger who was in the car with
Hilton and may have assumed the wheel at some time during the
erratic driving, was also responsible for a
hit-and-run incident on Pacific Coast Highway.
The California Highway Patrol has kept that
aspect of the investigation under wraps because it has not yet
produced any charges.
The son of longtime local residents
Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O’Neal has pleaded not
guilty to drug charges stemming from a Malibu arrest, according
the DA Office’s Davila.
Redmond James O’Neal, 23, entered
pleas last Friday to two felony charges of possessing
heroin and methamphetamine and two
misdemeanor counts that include DUI.
Prosecutors said O’Neal was arrested
after sheriff’s deputies spotted his car speeding on
Pacific Coast Highway before dawn on Jan. 26. According to the
official report, the younger O’Neal was
released on bond from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s
Station on the day of his arrest.
He is set to appear in Malibu Superior
Court on May 29 for a preliminary hearing scheduling to
determine if he will stand trial.
