BEVERLY HILLS—On Monday morning actress Lindsay Lohan, 23, appeared before a California Superior Court judge after the week before an arrest warrant was issued when the actress failed to appear in court on Thursday, May 20. Prior to the Monday morning hearing, where Lohan was seven minutes late arriving, Lindsay remained in France at the Cannes Film Festival, while stating that her passport had been stolen and she was unable to appear before the court. Her attorney Shawn Chapman Holley told the judge that her client was stuck in France, but that she expected her client to apply for a temporary passport in France then return to the U.S. on Friday. Judge Marsha N. Revel responded, “Right now that’s irrelevant. She was ordered to be here. There is no valid excuse.” She then issued an arrest warrant for the actress’s arrest upon return to LAX.
Throughout the hearing, the judge seemed very skeptical of attorney Chapman’s arguments for why her client was not there. By the afternoon, Lohan through her attorney had posted 10 percent of the $100,000 bond the judge set for Lohan’s non-appearance. The posting of the bond by Chapman was so the actress would avoid being picked up on an outstanding warrant upon returning to Los Angeles, which the actress did on Sunday afternoon.
During Monday’s hearing, Judge Revel heard arguments from Lohan’s defense attorney that she was mostly in compliance with her probation, which stems from an August 2007 guilty plea to misdemeanor drug charges and no contest to three driving charges. Revel set a probation violation hearing for July 6 to address the star’s failure to appear in court on May 20 for a scheduled progress report on her current probation.
During arguments attorney Holley stated to the court that Lohan had proof of an airline ticket to return to L.A. for the previous missed hearing date. The judge ordered Lohan to be fitted with an ankle bracelet, which will monitor any alcohol intake the actress may consume in the future. The judge said that she must not drink any alcohol or take any illegal drugs and must submit to random drug testing once a week until her July 6 hearing to determine how much longer the actress will remain on probation. Lohan’s attorney argued that the bracelet and upcoming drug tests could interfere with at least two photo shoots and possible filming of scenes from a movie the actress is currently starring in. The judge was unmoved by the defense’s arguments and stated Lohan had better keep the ankle bracelet on and submit to random weekly drug testing in the state of California, not Texas, where Lohan’s film is being completed.
Though court spectators expected to see photographs of Lindsay Lohan partying in Cannes, they were never brought up by the judge. The judge was obviously not fazed by the defense’s argument for additional liberties and freedoms for Lohan, and her attorney assured the judge that her client would be in court in July. Calls to Lohan’s attorney Shawn Chapman Holley were not returned by press time.
