Saturday, November 28, 2009

Reality TV star Stephanie Pratt arrested for DUI

Stephanie Pratt, star of MTV's "The Hills," was arrested early Sunday morning by Los Angeles Police for driving under the influence.

Pratt, sister of famed Spencer Pratt, was pulled over just before 4:00 AM in Hollywood. The charge is the star's first, and Pratt faces misdemeanor charges. Officers tell the media Pratt was pulled over for driving in a manner consistent with impaired driving. They say she cooperated fully and there were no unique circumstances with the arrest.

Adding to the buzz surrounding the arrest is the fact Pratt was on Twitter earlier in the evening. She tweeted about attending Holly Montag's, younger sister of Heidi Montag, birthday party. Entertainment news sources claim she appeared to be heading home at that point. The tweet read, "Just finished dinner and going to Empire but I'm pretty tired, a.k.a. yes, I am the party pooper."

A first-offense DUI in Los Angeles will be eligible for an ignition interlock mandate according to new legislation but not until July of next year. This means Pratt will not have to use the device. She will have to surrender her license as a result of the arrest. If convicted, Pratt will face jail time and probation.

However, since this is Pratt's first DUI, it is likely she will not serve time behind bars. She will be eligible under California law to have the offense expunged with appropriate probation efforts. These efforts typically include attending alcohol classes, avoiding alcohol and bars, completing community service hours and submitting a drug test.

There is some speculation about the success of these programs, though, among Los Angeles's celebrity crowd. Lindsay Lohan was permitted an extension on her probation when she did not fulfill community service hours because she had been "busy."



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Sunday, November 15, 2009

Gov. Schwarzenegger Signing Legislation Cracking Down on DUI Offenders

All right, we're all ready to go. Good morning, everybody. I'm Dale Bonner, Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency for the state of California.

Before we get on to the events of the morning I wanted to just say a special note of thanks to some of the people who've taken some time out to be here with us this morning. In addition to the two authors of the legislation, Assemblymember Michael Feuer from Los Angeles and Senator Bob Huff from Diamond Bar, we also have with us Mary Klotzbach from MADD. I see Sheriff McGinness is with us here from Sacramento County. And part of my Traffic Safety Team; we have Commissioner Joe Farrow from the Highway Patrol, George Valverde from the Department of Motor Vehicles and Chris Murphy from the Office of Traffic Safety. And they have been working very hard with all of the allied agencies all around the state to bring down the traffic collisions all across the state of California and to increase road safety.


And I try to remind everybody that by improving safety on the highways we're not only saving lives but we're improving the quality of life, because it's good not only for human beings and families but also for our state economy. And so the legislation we're signing today is particularly important because we can't control the weather but we can do more and more to control human behaviors that result in unnecessary collisions and that's what we are taking a significant step towards this morning.

So without further ado, let me introduce to you the man who is going to sign the legislation that's so important, that has brought us here this morning, my boss, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.


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