Party Girl Hilton Pleads Not Guilty for DUI

American socialite, singer, actress and fashion model Paris Hilton, who was arrested in September 2006 while she was hurrying to get a late night burger, pleaded not guilty of drunk driving on Tuesday.

Shawn Chapman Holley, her attorney, entered the not guilty plea, but Paris was absent from the brief hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court.

It was not compulsory for Paris to attend the hearing because the chargers imposed on her are misdemeanors.

Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer has scheduled the pre trial hearing for the case for January 23. She also informed that the case would go on trial within a month of that date.

Maximum penalty of six months and a $1000 fine will be imposed on the 25-year-old heir to the Hilton hotel fortune if she is convicted.

Hilton was arrested on September 7, 2006 for driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol level over California's legal limit of .08. However, the reality TV star and socialite snubbed away the charges, holding that she had just one margarita, and the high alcohol content in her blood was a result of having no time to eat during a long day while making a music video.

Hilton was arrested around 12:30 am in Hollywood as she failed the sobriety check. However, she was released immediately because of the swamp of photographer’s outside the police station.

Hilton's spokesman has said that her blood alcohol level registered "the absolute minimum amount of alcohol in your system that would justify an arrest."

Hilton, born on February 17, 1981, came to media spotlight in 2001, and developed a reputation of “19 year old socialite”, and was identified as “New York’s Leading It Girl”.

Hilton has tried her luck in varied branches of media. She has modeled for a number of top modeling agencies, and has also appeared in a number of films. Hilton is also a singer and has recorded a number of videos.

Besides acting, modeling and singing, the multi faceted star has written the book ‘Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose’ along with co-writer Merle Ginsberg. Hilton followed it up with a designer-diary, also with Ginsberg- ‘Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All To Me.’ She plans to release another book by 2007.

She has also helped design a collection of purses and jewellery, and opened a chain of nightclubs known as ‘Club Paris’ in 2005.

But ever since she stepped into the entertainment industry, her life has provided regular fodder for tabloids. She has been linked with a number of celebrities and has been labeled as a ‘Party Girl’.

Hilton, along with Britney Spears, topped the ‘annual worst dressed list’ of the former designer Mr. Blackwell on Tuesday.

Mr. Blackwell also described the two as “style-free and fashion deprived”.