Showing posts with label attorney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attorney. Show all posts

Monday, January 14, 2008

Spears must go to court for custody of kids

BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhuanet)-- U.S. pop singer Britney Spears would have to appear in court in person on Monday if she wants to restore the right to see her children, media reported.
"I don't know if she will be there," Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan was quoted as saying.
If she comes to court, she "will have the opportunity to persuade the court that she can have some visitation under monitored conditions," said Kaplan, adding that it will be "the most significant hearing in the case so far."
Police were preparing for possible media frenzy in the downtown civic center if Spears appears. They issued warnings on Sunday that vehicle and pedestrian violations would lead to summons.
On Jan. 3, Spears refused to return the boys to her ex-husband Kevin Federline at her home. Later there was a standoff, and Spears was sent to hospital in an ambulance.
On Jan. 4, her former husband Federline was awarded sole legal and physical custody of their two boys and Spears' visitation rights were suspended.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Court gives sole custody of Spears’ sons to Kevin Federline

LOS ANGELES - A court commissioner gave sole physical and legal custody of Britney Spears’ two little boys Friday to ex-husband Kevin Federline and suspended the troubled pop star’s visitation rights.
Spears was hauled away from her home to a hospital by paramedics a day before, after police had to intervene when she refused to return the children to Federline after a court-monitored visit.
Commissioner Scott Gordon ordered another hearing to be held Jan. 14.
Federline had previously been awarded temporary custody of 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James because Spears has defied court orders, resulting in limitations on her visitation.
"I’m not happy about any of these events," Federline attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said when he left a closed-door emergency hearing Friday afternoon. "There’s no winners here."
Federline was not in court for the hearing, Kaplan said.
The attorney had said he did not expect the ruling to be released until Monday, but it was issued shortly after the hearing concluded.
Law professor Steve Cron, who is not involved in the Spears-Federline matter, predicted that Spears will face sanctions from the court for her behavior.
"My guess is that she won’t be seeing her kids for a while," said Cron, who teaches at Pepperdine University in Malibu.
Gordon has little option other than to further reduce the time Spears can legally spend with her children, Cron said, "at least for the time being until she gets some help. She’s obviously a very troubled person."
The 26-year-old pop star remained hospitalized Friday.
Her latest troubles began around 8 p.m. Thursday when officers were called to her home to help resolve a dispute over her refusal to turn the children over to Federline, as dictated by their custody agreement.
It took two to three hours to resolve the conflict, said Officer Ana Aguirre.
"There was a time where she was within the residence and wasn’t available to be speaking to the officers, apparently," she said. "There was no threat to the children."
"Police resolved the conflict," Aguirre said. "Both children were turned over to her ex-husband Kevin Federline for custody, and she was in fact taken to a local hospital for medical treatment."
Early police reports said officers thought Spears might have been under the influence of some substance, but Aguirre said there was no evidence of that.
"Our understanding is that was not the case," she said.
Officers at the scene determined that paramedics "needed to be called" but it was unclear why, she said.
"We’re not aware of any type of injuries that she sustained" and she was not combative with authorities, Aguirre said.
Spears wasn’t arrested in connection with the custody dispute, Aguirre said.
"There was no actual crime that was involved," the police spokeswoman said.
Spears and Federline were married in October 2004. Her life has spiraled downward since their divorce in July. She has been photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and out of control in public. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and spent a month in rehab.
She had hoped to regain her pop crown with a much-hyped performance at MTV’s Video Music Awards in September, but it was universally panned by fans and critics.
Still, Spears’ latest album, "Blackout," earned positive reviews when it was released in October and brought Spears her first No. 1 hit in years, "Gimme More."
However, Spears remains a paparazzi target for her bizarre antics, which include frequent stops at gas-station bathrooms and holing up in a hotel room with a paparazzo.
Her 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn, made headlines last month when she announced that she is pregnant.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Britney Spears's Quickie Deposition

Britney's visit to the Los Angeles office of Kevin Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, didn't go exactly as planned on Thursday. She was 90 minutes late, and left after less than a quarter hour of questioning. The singer, wearing a hot pink dress and heels, arrived for her despostion after numerous previous failures to show. Less than an hour later, she drove off in her white Mercedes without speaking to the press. Yet back at her Beverly Hills home, when a photographer asked if Kaplan was nice to her, Spears responded with an emphatic, "No!" Spears, 26, was expected to be grilled about her past drug and alcohol use, her apparent failure to follow court orders and other matters that might pertain to her parenting skills. Asked if he got information he was looking for, Kaplan replied stoically, "In 14 minutes?" He described her demeanor as "cooperative," and said the appointment was only scheduled from 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. "I would've preferred it had gone on longer," he said. The attorney added that he hasn't decided whether to pursue sanctions against Spears for being late. He also said another deposition appointment had been set, but gave no details. Although he said Spears gave a reason for being an hour and a half late, he did not specify what the excuse was.source:People

Driver license case against Britney Spears

LOS ANGELES—An attorney for Britney Spears wants the city attorney's office to prove that the pop star is a permanent California resident and subject to state laws that require her to have a valid California driver's license.
Spears faces up to one year of probation if convicted in a misdemeanor case of allegedly driving without a valid license. The case stems from a videotaped fender bender in a parking lot on Aug. 6, 2007.
A hit-and-run charge was previously dismissed.
Spears' attorney J. Michael Flanagan filed a discovery motion Wednesday that would require prosecutors to demonstrate that Spears, who owns homes in Louisiana and Florida, intends to make Los Angeles her permanent legal home.
"If they can establish that Britney is domiciled here in California, that she permanently intends to stay here, then she does have a requirement to get a license," Flanagan said in an interview. "Basically, it's a fix-it ticket."
Flanagan said Spears had a valid Louisiana license at the time of the incident, and got a California license six days after the complaint was filed.
A call seeking comment from the city attorney's office was not immediately returned.
Spears, who has pleaded not guilty, was not present in court Wednesday.
The next court date is Jan. 25.