Actress violates probation
2007-10-01 10:21
Los Angeles - Actress Michelle Rodriguez violated probation again in a drunken driving case by failing to complete her community service and not following an alcohol education programme, prosecutors said.
Rodriguez went to court on Friday to answer to the latest claims by the city attorney's office, which said the former Lost actress submitted a document stating she performed community service on September 25 2006, but later admitted she was actually in New York City that day.
The document was required as part of the 30 days of community service Rodriguez was ordered to serve for violating probation in a 2003 drunken driving case, according to court papers filed on Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
If she is found to have violated terms of her probation, Rodriguez could face between 477 to 537 days in county jail and a $2 000 fine.
Rodriguez, 29, kept quiet in court as her attorney, Richard Beale, argued that she performed 30 days of community service and said "a clerical error" caused the discrepancy in the paperwork.
Superior Court Judge Daviann L Mitchell granted Beale's request to call two county sheriff's supervisors who signed off on her community service forms to testify. A hearing was set for October 12.
In August, the judge found that Rodriguez had not completed a required alcohol monitoring programme and ordered her to perform 30 days of road maintenance work. On Friday, the judge noted Rodriguez had not completed the programme or the maintenance work.
Beale said the actress is making progress, but the judge admonished Rodriguez to take her probation more seriously.
"I'm not impressed with your completion schedule," she said. "There were 55 people here in court today and all but very few have completed their responsibilities. They work on much less flexible schedules than you do."
Rodriguez was placed on three years' probation after she pleaded no contest to hit-and-run, driving on a suspended licence and drunken driving in connection with two incidents that occurred in Hollywood in 2003.
She was found to have violated terms of her probation after she was arrested in Hawaii on a drunken driving charge.
When she returned to Los Angeles, Rodriguez was ordered to spend 60 days in jail, but she served less than a day because of jail overcrowding. She was then ordered to perform community service and remain on probation until June 2009.
Rodriguez appeared in one season of ABC's Lost. Her film credits include The Fast and The Furious, Blue Crush and Girlfight.
- AP