Saturday, June 9, 2007

Handling of Hilton: At best a semi clusterf#@k, at worst a total clusterf#@k.


Man, can California handle a single high-celebrity court case? O.J. and that Baretta dude were bad enough. Now even a simple parole violation becomes a mess!

Two UNCONFIRMED reports on bad behavior with the system are floating around now:

1) Sheriff Lee Baca (who released Hilton to house arrest and made a public statement yesterday concerned with her mental health) accepted a $1,000 campaign donation last year from Paris Hilton's grandfather, William Barron Hilton. $1,000 is the maximum amount allowable under California campaign rules. SOURCE

2) Paris was placed back in jail because Judge Sauer was pissed that he was kept out of the loop and not consulted on Paris’ release. He was never given a copy of the medical report that got her transferred home. Apparently he kept asking for the paperwork during yesterday's proceedings. SOURCE

These may be just another case of media obsession masterbating itself into paranoid rumor-induced frenzy, but if either is true, it's a poor showing for L.A. law. If the Sheriff donation story is true, it lends credence to the suspicion the Hilton family called in a favor to get special treatment -- exactly what most people thought when they heard that she was released. If the judge story is true, it's bureaucratic red-tape that trigged some kind of sado-ego-tastic power play between the Sheriff's Department and the judge. Either possibility is odious. And if these stories were fabricated, then whoever made them up are UTTER dicks. And I do believe I am using the word "dick" correctly here.

The more important point here is how can we properly handle the combo of money, celebrity, and justice. I don't even know how much Paris Hilton has little to do with it anymore, other than being another famous person who did something dumb. As I mentioned in my earlier post, it appears that Paris' fame is working against her, and this seems to be compounded by internal politics within the L.A. justice system.

Clip of Baca's statement on Friday courtesy of I Don't Like You In That Way. Still sounds straight up to me, but maybe he's just another out of work actor in L.A.








1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Unconfirmed? Look up the election records. That donation is as official as they come. It's all public record.