News (Media Awareness Project) - US CA: Robert Downey Jr Avoids Prison |
| Title: | US CA: Robert Downey Jr Avoids Prison |
| Published On: | 2001-07-17 |
| Source: | Los Angeles Times (CA) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-01 01:03:40 |
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. AVOIDS PRISON
INDIO, Calif. -- Robert Downey Jr., who faced a possible prison sentence on
drug charges, was ordered to undergo rehabilitation under a new state law
that stresses treatment over punishment for substance abusers.
Downey was sentenced Monday to a year in a live-in rehabilitation program
and three years of probation after pleading no contest to cocaine
possession and being under the influence. A third charge was dropped.
The actor also was ordered to comply with a set of regulations including
random drug testing and random searches.
Downey, nominated for an Oscar for the film "Chaplin" and for an Emmy last
week for "Ally McBeal," was arrested at Merv Griffin's Resort Hotel and
Givenchy Spa in Palm Springs in November. Authorities allegedly found the
drugs in his hotel room.
The judge warned Downey he could go to prison for up to four years if he
violated the terms.
Proposition 36, which California voters approved last year and which took
effect July 1, removes the threat of prison for nonviolent drug users
convicted of use or possession for the first or second time. Drug
convictions handed down before the law took effect do not count.
Downey's legal troubles date back to 1996, when authorities found cocaine,
heroin and a pistol in his vehicle. A month later he was found passed out
in a neighbor's home and was hospitalized at a substance-abuse treatment
center. Three days later, he was arrested for leaving the center.
In August 1999, Downey was sentenced to three years in prison for violating
his probation by missing scheduled drug tests. He was released a year later
on $5,000 bail.
Downey checked into a Malibu drug rehabilitation center after he was
arrested again in April and tests showed he had traces of cocaine in his
system. The arrest in Culver City, Calif., cost him his "Ally McBeal" role,
but no charges will be filed.
"He wants to get through this illness," his lawyer, Ross Nabatoff, said on
CNN's "Larry King Live." "He thinks he can, I think he can and all of his
friends think he can."
INDIO, Calif. -- Robert Downey Jr., who faced a possible prison sentence on
drug charges, was ordered to undergo rehabilitation under a new state law
that stresses treatment over punishment for substance abusers.
Downey was sentenced Monday to a year in a live-in rehabilitation program
and three years of probation after pleading no contest to cocaine
possession and being under the influence. A third charge was dropped.
The actor also was ordered to comply with a set of regulations including
random drug testing and random searches.
Downey, nominated for an Oscar for the film "Chaplin" and for an Emmy last
week for "Ally McBeal," was arrested at Merv Griffin's Resort Hotel and
Givenchy Spa in Palm Springs in November. Authorities allegedly found the
drugs in his hotel room.
The judge warned Downey he could go to prison for up to four years if he
violated the terms.
Proposition 36, which California voters approved last year and which took
effect July 1, removes the threat of prison for nonviolent drug users
convicted of use or possession for the first or second time. Drug
convictions handed down before the law took effect do not count.
Downey's legal troubles date back to 1996, when authorities found cocaine,
heroin and a pistol in his vehicle. A month later he was found passed out
in a neighbor's home and was hospitalized at a substance-abuse treatment
center. Three days later, he was arrested for leaving the center.
In August 1999, Downey was sentenced to three years in prison for violating
his probation by missing scheduled drug tests. He was released a year later
on $5,000 bail.
Downey checked into a Malibu drug rehabilitation center after he was
arrested again in April and tests showed he had traces of cocaine in his
system. The arrest in Culver City, Calif., cost him his "Ally McBeal" role,
but no charges will be filed.
"He wants to get through this illness," his lawyer, Ross Nabatoff, said on
CNN's "Larry King Live." "He thinks he can, I think he can and all of his
friends think he can."
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