BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. (AP) - Lindsay Lohan returned to jail in handcuffs Friday after a judge refused to set bail and ordered her to remain in custody for failing a drug test until another hearing nearly a month away.
Bailiffs escorted the troubled starlet from the Beverly Hills courtroom immediately after the hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes. She arrived at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood a short time later, with sheets held up around her to shield her from sight.
It will be Lohan’s third jail stint for a 3-year-old drug and drunken driving case filed after a pair of high-profile arrests in 2007.
Before the hearing, the “Mean Girls” star chatted with her attorney, smiling and laughing. But moments before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox took the bench, she began fidgeting with her earrings and looking to the back of the courtroom, where were two bondsmen sat, prepared to post the actress’ bail.
Lohan’s attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, asked Fox whether Lohan’s full probation revocation hearing could be delayed a week.
“I think your client would rather have it on Oct. 22,” Fox said, giving the first hint that he intended to send the actress to jail.
Holley rose to argue that bail should be set. “Nope,” Fox replied.
“Oh God,” Michael Lohan said as bailiffs moved in and his daughter rose and was handcuffed.
Lohan has twice been released early because of overcrowding, with her longest jail stay a 14-day stint on a 90-day sentence earlier this summer.
But this time, the judge’s order diminishes the likelihood that Lohan will be released before the Oct. 22 hearing, when her positive drug test will be discussed.
“When you put the judge in a tight spot, he has no alternative,” said Barry Gerald Sands, a defense attorney who has represented celebrity clients in drug cases. “She will not get out now.”
Court spokesman Allan Parachini said whether Lohan gets credit the time she’s serving now depends on whether Fox formally sentences her to jail time later.
“This isn’t a sentence,” Parachini said. “She was remanded to custody pending a hearing date.”
The previous judge handling Lohan’s case had said she had to set bail for Lohan because she was facing misdemeanors.
“This judge feels he didn’t have to set bail,” Sands said, adding that Fox’s orders are rarely overturned.
Fox said Lohan had a “positive test for a controlled substance” that he did not identify. He said probation officials are also reviewing Lohan’s compliance with other aspects of her probation, which included frequent meetings with counselors.
“I think that the case law is clear that she is entitled to bail,” Holley said after the hearing. She would not say whether she would appeal Fox’s ruling and left the courthouse with Lohan’s mother Dina, who carried her daughter’s shoes and jewelry in a clear plastic bag.
Los Angeles television stations followed a car said to be carrying Lohan to jail.
She and her mother had arrived at the courthouse together an hour before, while the actress’s father _ with whom she’s publicly sparred _ arrived earlier.
The actress acknowledged failing a court-ordered drug screening last week in a series of Twitter postings.
It was the star’s first appearance before Fox, who had said at a previous hearing he would sentence her to a month in jail for each drug test she skipped or failed.
The actress wasn’t present for that hearing, which was held hours after her release from rehab.
Lohan seemed to acknowledge an addiction problem after news of her positive drug test broke last week.
“Substance abuse is a disease, which unfortunately doesn’t go away over night,” Lohan posted on her Twitter feed last Friday. “I am working hard to overcome it and am taking positive steps.
“This is certainly a setback for me but I am taking responsibility for my actions and I’m prepared to face the consequences,” her posts said.
The actress remains on probation for a reckless driving and two driving under the influence charges, all misdemeanors. Fox dropped two drug cases at a hearing in August during which he announced Lohan’s release from rehab and set out a strict outpatient treatment schedule that included random drug screenings.
Fox has sealed Lohan’s court file, but a source familiar with the case has told The Associated Press that the actress’ failed test came roughly two weeks after her release from rehab.
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