home

Judge Complains About Media Leaks in Lindsay Lohan Case

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Thu Mar 10, 2011 at 08:22:01 PM EST
Tags: Lindsay Lohan (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

Lindsay Lohan went to court today. She didn't accept the confidential plea deal the Judge suggested to lawyers yesterday during an in chambers secret meeting. At the short hearing today, the Judge gave Lindsay two more weeks to decide whether to accept it.

The Daily Beast reports the Judge also complained about the media leaks, particularly to TMZ and RadarOnline. He said he didn't suspect the attorneys.

Thankfully, this case doesn't involve military secrets where people's lives are at stake, because I can't believe how these things leak out, how TMZ, RadarOnline, all of these, I don't know how,” said [Judge]Schwartz.

[More...]

``I respect both of the attorneys are completely honorable. They requested confidentiality. I certainly, I don't even tell my wife what's going on. So I can't understand how they find out this information. I'm just, please respect the confidentiality nature of these agreements. It's not fair for either side to have these things leaked out in dribs or drabs. It's not right. Cases should be litigated in court, in a courtroom, so then everybody can hear what's going on. It doesn't benefit anybody, so please try as our understanding was to keep whatever offer I made confidential.''

In the event Lindsay decides to take the plea bargain, the judge instructed Lindsay's lawyer to file it under seal, "for his eyes only."

Lindsay is between a rock and hard place. Since the preliminary hearing on the felony theft charge for the necklace will be heard the same day as her probation violation complaint (April 22), it's possible that if bound over on the theft charge, she will be jailed immediately for the probation violation, and have to remain in jail without bond pending trial on the felony.

If Lindsay takes the deal, she must decide and appear in court on March 25. That leaves two weeks for her lawyer, Shawn Holley, to try and tweak the deal.

Question: Why is the judge making plea offers at all? Isn't that the province of the District Attorney in the executive branch? I suspect he didn't really make a plea offer to Lindsay, but rather, told both sides how he intended to sentence her if she accepted the prosecution's offer.