Paris Hilton today was ordered to return to her solitary cell, a day after she had been sent home to house arrest and became the center of a storm of protest that she was being treated better than someone less famous.
Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer made his ruling after a hearing that followed a tumultuous sequence in which Hilton was brought to court in a sheriff's patrol car. Earlier, it seemed that she would only attend the hearing via telephone.
Her sojourn to the courthouse wasn't quite the scene of police chasing O.J. Simpson or even authorities bringing Reggie the alligator to his new home, but Hilton was part of the official caravan that wound its way from the Hollywood Hills to the downtown courthouse.
Some television stations accorded Hilton the honor reserved for dignitaries' departures and the mundane cases of road rage: live television coverage.
A crying Hilton sat in the back seat, wearing handcuffs and sweats. She entered a black-and-white car, No. 865, which was parked in the driveway next to one of the family cars, a Bentley. Then, lights flashing, off she rode to meet her fate.
Hilton went to Sauer's courtroom this morning because the city attorney's office opposed the 26-year-old heiress' release from jail on Thursday.
She had served only a little more than three days of her sentence when Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca decided she was too ill to serve more time.
But the Hilton affair has long since moved beyond courtroom, becoming as much of a media circus as a test case on whether wealth and notoriety buy special treatment from the judicial system.
Sauer originally sentenced Hilton to 45 days in jail after the professional party girl, reality-show actress and self-defined singer repeatedly violated her probation on alcohol-related reckless driving charges.
Sauer was insistent that Hilton serve her time, but before she even set foot in Lynwood, the woman's facility, officials had cut the sentence to 23 days.
Amid an outcry that Hilton was being treated harshly because of her fame, Baca said he was prepared to enforce the sentence. He said Hilton would be treated like any other inmate.
Hilton surrendered late Sunday night to the Sheriff's Department after a surprise appearance at the MTV Movie Awards. She was taken to Lynwood's Century Regional Detention Facility. Reports quickly surfaced that she was depressed.
A little more than two hours into Thursday morning, she legally left the jail with an electronic monitoring device and orders to spend 40 days confined to her Spanish-style home. The narrow cell would fit comfortably on a small part of the house's verandah.
The furor over the release grew throughout the day as unionized sheriff's deputies, politicians and community activists complained that Hilton was being treated more generously than any other inmate.
Baca defended the decision to release Hilton for unspecified medical reasons, but the city attorney's office, which prosecuted Hilton, demanded a hearing to return Hilton to jail.
Assistant City Atty. Dan Jefferies said the reason given for Hilton's release made the case unusual and raised questions about special treatment. He said that releasing inmates because of overcrowding was common but that in his 25 years as a prosecutor, he could remember only two or three instances in which people were let go early for medical reasons. In each case, he said, the individual was extremely ill.
Paparazzi have mobbed Hilton's home and the courthouse. As Hilton prepared to leave her home this morning, what appeared to be large tarpaulins were placed over the fence to block possible photographs of her departure.
In addition to seeking Hilton's return to jail, City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo asked the court to issue an order for the Sheriff's Department to show cause why it should not be held in contempt for violating the court's sentence.
On May 4, the court ordered no electronic monitoring.
At the courthouse, it was a confusing morning. Early reports said Hilton would attend the hearing, then that she would only be connected by telephone. Finally, a court spokesman said Hilton was ordered to appear in person.
At the courthouse, there was the usual mob scene, not only of journalists, but also of people waiting to deal with traffic issues.
Rodolfo Cepeda, 41, an L.A. trucking company employee, arrived about 8:10 a.m. to pay a traffic ticket. He was one of hundreds of people waiting outside the courthouse.
"I thought it's crazy. I thought it was going to be in and out. I told them [at work] that I'd be there about 9 or 9:30, but I don't think so. I'll have to call in. There is nothing we can do. We're here already. We have to wait."
Times staff writer Michael Muskal contributed to this story
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