Regis Philbin
Aug 17th, 2006, 11:41 PM
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/15297038.htm
Mel Gibson pleads no contest in DUI case, gets probation
LINDA DEUTSCH
Associated Press
MALIBU, Calif. - Mel Gibson moved suddenly Thursday to end the legal hangover of his drunken driving arrest, pleading no contest to a single misdemeanor in a deal that calls for alcohol rehabilitation, fines and probation, leaving him to cope with fallout from the anti-Semitic tirade he unleashed on a sheriff's deputy.
The actor's arraignment had been scheduled for next month but his attorney requested that it be moved up, and a judge agreed, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.
Gibson did not have to appear in the misdemeanor case and he did not, allowing attorney Blair Berk to handle the plea before Malibu Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira.
The abrupt advancement of the proceeding was announced to the news media by the district attorney's office with no time for most reporters to reach the distant courthouse before the plea was over.
"Media requests received after proceedings already completed," the case file noted.
Court documents showed that Gibson signed the plea agreement and waived his right to a jury trial on Monday but the paperwork was filed just before Thursday's proceeding.
Gibson was stopped around 2:30 a.m. on July 28 while driving on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and made anti-Semitic remarks to the arresting deputy, plunging Gibson into a scandal that forced him to later apologize for what he called "belligerent behavior" and "despicable" remarks.
Mel Gibson pleads no contest in DUI case, gets probation
LINDA DEUTSCH
Associated Press
MALIBU, Calif. - Mel Gibson moved suddenly Thursday to end the legal hangover of his drunken driving arrest, pleading no contest to a single misdemeanor in a deal that calls for alcohol rehabilitation, fines and probation, leaving him to cope with fallout from the anti-Semitic tirade he unleashed on a sheriff's deputy.
The actor's arraignment had been scheduled for next month but his attorney requested that it be moved up, and a judge agreed, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.
Gibson did not have to appear in the misdemeanor case and he did not, allowing attorney Blair Berk to handle the plea before Malibu Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira.
The abrupt advancement of the proceeding was announced to the news media by the district attorney's office with no time for most reporters to reach the distant courthouse before the plea was over.
"Media requests received after proceedings already completed," the case file noted.
Court documents showed that Gibson signed the plea agreement and waived his right to a jury trial on Monday but the paperwork was filed just before Thursday's proceeding.
Gibson was stopped around 2:30 a.m. on July 28 while driving on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and made anti-Semitic remarks to the arresting deputy, plunging Gibson into a scandal that forced him to later apologize for what he called "belligerent behavior" and "despicable" remarks.