Sheriff's favor failed to earn freedom for Hilton

Paris Hilton, the heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune and the daughter of real estate magnate Rick Hilton, once again failed to win freedom for herself.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer on Friday ordered Hilton to leave her mansion and return to a Los Angeles county jail to serve the sentence for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

The 26-year-old high profile celebrity blonde, who checked herself into Los Angeles jail late last Sunday night (June 3), one and a half day before her deadline, was released from the county jail Thursday by Sheriff Lee Baca because of an unspecified medical condition.

After spending three days in the slammer, Hilton was sent to her $2.1 million home with silk sheets, servants and a pool in the hills above Sunset Strip, with an electronic ankle bracelet to monitor her movements. The celebrity inmate was told she could finish her sentence under house arrest, meaning she could not leave her four-bedroom, three-bathroom home in the Hollywood Hills until next month.

But, judge Sauer called her back to his courtroom on Friday and apparently unmoved by the pleas of Hilton's three lawyers to send her back to home confinement due to an undisclosed medical condition (a skin rash), ordered to send her back to jail.

In defence of their decision to release the hotel heiress, Mr. Baca said he had allowed Hilton home because of “her severe medical problems” and confirmed that her condition was “mental”. “This lady has some severe problems. “I can’t trust her tenuous status. I need more cooperation from the courts and from the city attorney’s office,” he said.

But, the sentencing judge and the city’s chief prosecutor strongly opposed Mr. Baca’s plea. “I at no time condoned the actions of the sheriff and at no time told him I approved the actions. At no time did I approve the defendant being released from custody to her home on Kings Road,” Judge Sauer told the court.

Judge Sauer insisted Hilton serve her full sentence, i.e. 45 days in jail, not the reduced 23-day sentence the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department gave her.

Echoing Judge Sauer’s ruling, Assistant City Attorney Dan Jeffries said Hilton should be sent behind bars and said that was purely the judge’s decision to make. “Her release after only three days erodes confidence in the judicial system,” he said.

Soon after the ruling, makeup-less Hilton, who bawled, dabbed her eyes and wiped her nose throughout the hearing, tried to move toward her parents but was steered away by two sheriff's deputies, who held her by each arm and moved her swiftly from the courtroom.

"It's not right!" shouted the crying Hilton. "Mom!" she called out to her mother, Kathy Hilton, who threw her arms around her husband Rick and cried loudly.
Hilton's troubles began in September when the socialite was arrested for drunken driving. She was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicant and driving with a blood alcohol level over California's legal limit of .08.

Labeled as the “Party Girl”, Hilton had pleaded not guilty of drunk driving in January, and was sentenced to 36 months’ probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines.

After receiving 45-day sentence from Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer for violating her probation in a reckless driving case, Paris Hilton made immense efforts to escape from the punishment, to which she initially described as ‘cruel’ and ‘unwarranted’.

After failing to win the favor of judge Sauer and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to pardon her, she eventually was favored by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which decided to cut Hilton’s sentence after reviewing the case and giving her credit for good behavior.

The life of the damsel has been in media spotlight ever since she entered the entertainment industry and has been subjected to criticism for her hard-partying lifestyle by almost everyone.