|
Vivica Fox spared jail time in DUI case
2007-12-08
Vivica A. Fox on Friday became the latest celebrity to enter a plea deal with prosecutors to settle a drunken driving case, authorities said. The actress and former "Dancing With the Stars" contestant pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of driving with a blood-alcohol level over the legal limit of .08, city attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan said. A Superior Court judge sentenced Fox to three years probation and ordered her to enter a 90-day alcohol education program. She also must pay a $390 fine, Mateljan said. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped a charge of misdemeanor driving under the influence, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but means the defendant will not fight the charges. A call to Fox's attorney, Richard Hutton, was not immediately returned. Fox, 43, was stopped in March in the San Fernando Valley after her 2007 Cadillac Escalade passed a California Highway Patrol car, according to a CHP report. She failed a series of sobriety tests, the report said. Fox said later that she regretted the incident. "I won't ever make that mistake again," she told reporters in June. "Trust me, I'm going to hire a driver next time." Earlier this week, actors Kiefer Sutherland, Ray Liotta and Gary Collins pleaded no contest to resolve their DUI cases. Sutherland and Collins were sentenced to jail. Liotta, who pleaded no contest to reckless driving for crashing into two parked cars, was placed on three years probation.
| 
