The question was sure to be asked: will Paris Hilton, sentenced yesterday to 45 days in jail, ever actually serve any of the time? TMZ has already cited an example where Lost star Michelle Rodriguez was hit by L.A. for the same offense - violating probation after a DUI - and wound up spending all of two hours in lock-up before over-crowding issues prompted authorities to send her home.
What TMZ fails to point-out, however, is that Rodriguez's L.A. probation was revoked after she was popped for DUI in Hawaii - not in L.A. itself. L.A. may have felt that the punishment she received in Hawaii - five days in the slam plus a fine - added to their own community service sentence was sufficient. And at any rate the Rodriguez case was hardly as high-profile as the Hilton one, and therefore represented a less perilous situation for an L.A. court system looking to avoid the embarrassment of being branded a celebrity-coddling bunch of losers.
That's what's really at the heart of this - the sore spot the city of L.A. has over people's belief that they let celebs off easy. Mel Gibson, it was thought by some, got preferential treatment from star-struck L.A. County Sheriff's Officers - there were even rumors that someone in the office tried to suppress news of Gibson's anti-Semitic tirade. Of course Paris Hilton is no Gibson - she's built up no reservoir of goodwill after years of legitimately entertaining people - but still, her family is rich and she's well-known, and why, people ask, should a notoriously celeb-friendly system fail to come through for her?
Because public perception matters, especially to politicians. There was nothing to be gained by keeping Michelle Rodriguez in lock-up, but there is something at stake in the Hilton case, which is sure to be followed even more closely by the media now. Already the L.A. City Attorney has made noise that he intends making an example of Paris. Said a rep for C.A. Rocky Delgadillo:
City Attorney Delgadillo believes today's ruling sends a clear message that in the City of Los Angeles, no one is above the law.
Translation: L.A. does not let celebs off just because they're celebs. The cynic may dispute this, but the cynic also knows that all City Attorneys want to become District Attorneys, hence there is something at stake here for Mr. Delgadillo. His statement signals that he wants to be the "we don't coddle celebs" man in L.A. Such is the stuff that campaigns are made on. Poor Paris may end up serving time for political reasons as much as legal, but she would hardly be the first such victim.
And there's the little matter of judge Sauer, the man who handed down Paris's sentence. It didn't help Paris's cause that she showed up for Sauer's court 18 minutes late; and it further didn't help that, when she did finally deign to appear, her defense was so feeble it actually prompted Sauer to chastise her and rep Elliot Mintz, who testified miserably on her behalf. The whole "Paris didn't know her license was suspended" ploy was nothing less than an insult to the court, one made more egregious by the arrogantly sloppy way it was perpetrated. This was more than just some flithead violating probation - it was a rich, entitled flithead and her devious handlers flouting justice. By slapping the 45 day sentence on her head, Sauer seemed to be conveying his own personal disgust at Paris's conduct.
Paris Hilton, in short, has made no friends in the L.A. court system. If her parents Rick and Kathy Hilton have any - which after years on the party circuit they almost assuredly do - they will certainly want to call in favors now. Perhaps behind-the-scenes string-pulling will lead to Paris being let off light. Or maybe the swamping of L.A.-area jails will cause her sentence to be suspended, or reduced to community service (despite judge Sauer's insistence that this sort of thing not happen). However, outwardly, it appears there are powerful people in L.A. who want to see Paris incarcerated. And one must never underestimate the influence of the media in these situations. If Paris is let off, the talking heads will start screaming that L.A.'s courts are a joke. And since Paris is no Mel Gibson - no one with any real power in the area, unlike Gibson who has been facetiously dubbed "the mayor of Malibu" - nobody in L.A. has any reason not to throw her to the wolves. People say Paris's celebrity will help her to beat the rap, but this empty fame may actually be the reason she's made to face the music.
