527477

Heiress released from prison

AP Entertainment

Lynwood, California, 26 June 2007

1. Ext correctional facility

2. Paris Hilton walks out and walks past media

3. Paris Hilton hugs her mother, Kathy Hilton, waiting in car

4. Media surround car, Paris and Kathy Hilton inside

5. Hilton's car leaves

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Steve Whitmore, Sherriff's spokesman:

"Not really, it was okay, it was uneventful. So we're grateful. It's over. (Q.Reporter - "and she was treated, throughout her stay, the 23 days...?") Our goal was to treat her just like any other inmate. Obviously if you look around you that's a little different. But yes, it was to treat her like any other inmate, she has fulfilled her debt to society and it's now concluded (Q.Reporter - "did she say anything to you when she was leaving") She just said thank you and good bye, and she thanked people as she left."

PARIS HILTON LEAVES PRISON

Paris Hilton left jail on Tuesday after a bizarre, three-week stay in which the hotel heiress was briefly released to her Hollywood Hills home, before being sent back to a county lockup.

The 26-year-old walked out of the Century Regional Detention Facility for women in Lynwood, to an enormous horde of cameras and reporters after midnight.

Hilton wore a green jacket, plaited hair and a broad smile as she left the jail.

She waved to press as she ran towards her mother, Kathy Hilton, waiting patiently inside a car.

The two hugged each other through the car window, before Hilton climbed inside and drove away.

It was not immediately clear where she was going.

Sherriff's spokesperson Steve Whitmore spoke to the gathered media after Hilton had left.

"Our goal was to treat her just like any other inmate." Whitmore said Obviously if you look around you that's a little different. But yes, it was to treat her like any other inmate, she has fulfilled her debt to society and it's now concluded"

He added that the heiress "just said thank you and good bye, and she thanked people as she left."

The starlet will complete her probation in March 2009 as long as she keeps her driver's licence current and doesn't break any laws.

She can reduce that time by 12 months if she does community service that could include a public-service announcement, the city attorney's office has said.

Hilton began her 45-day sentence for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

She was mostly confined to a solitary cell in the special needs unit away from the other 2,200 inmates.

Hilton spent only three days there before she was released with electronic monitoring by Sheriff Lee Baca for an unspecified medical condition that he later said was psychological.

The following day Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer, who sentenced the hotel heiress, called her back into court and ordered her returned to jail, saying he had not approved her release.

Hilton left the courtroom in tears calling for her mother and shouting, "It's not right!"

She was then taken to the downtown Twin Towers jail, which houses men and the county jail's medical treatment centre, where she underwent medical and psychiatric exams to determine where she should be confined.

Hilton's stay there cost taxpayers 1,109.78 US dollars a day, more than 10 times the cost of housing inmates in the general population.

The move by Baca caused a firestorm of criticism over whether the Hilton was getting special treatment due to her wealth and fame.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has launched an investigation into the allegations.

Hilton's path to jail began September 7, when she failed a sobriety test after police saw her weaving down a street in her Mercedes-Benz on what she said was a late-night run to a hamburger stand.

She pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to 36 months probation, alcohol education and 1,500 US dollars in fines.

After that sentence Hilton was stopped twice by officers who discovered her driving with a suspended license.

The second stop landed her in Sauer's courtroom, where he sentenced her to jail.

527477

Heiress released from prison

AP Entertainment

Lynwood, California, 26 June 2007

1. Ext correctional facility

2. Paris Hilton walks out and walks past media

3. Paris Hilton hugs her mother, Kathy Hilton, waiting in car

4. Media surround car, Paris and Kathy Hilton inside

5. Hilton's car leaves

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Steve Whitmore, Sherriff's spokesman:

"Not really, it was okay, it was uneventful. So we're grateful. It's over. (Q.Reporter - "and she was treated, throughout her stay, the 23 days...?") Our goal was to treat her just like any other inmate. Obviously if you look around you that's a little different. But yes, it was to treat her like any other inmate, she has fulfilled her debt to society and it's now concluded (Q.Reporter - "did she say anything to you when she was leaving") She just said thank you and good bye, and she thanked people as she left."

PARIS HILTON LEAVES PRISON

Paris Hilton left jail on Tuesday after a bizarre, three-week stay in which the hotel heiress was briefly released to her Hollywood Hills home, before being sent back to a county lockup.

The 26-year-old walked out of the Century Regional Detention Facility for women in Lynwood, to an enormous horde of cameras and reporters after midnight.

Hilton wore a green jacket, plaited hair and a broad smile as she left the jail.

She waved to press as she ran towards her mother, Kathy Hilton, waiting patiently inside a car.

The two hugged each other through the car window, before Hilton climbed inside and drove away.

It was not immediately clear where she was going.

Sherriff's spokesperson Steve Whitmore spoke to the gathered media after Hilton had left.

"Our goal was to treat her just like any other inmate." Whitmore said Obviously if you look around you that's a little different. But yes, it was to treat her like any other inmate, she has fulfilled her debt to society and it's now concluded"

He added that the heiress "just said thank you and good bye, and she thanked people as she left."

The starlet will complete her probation in March 2009 as long as she keeps her driver's licence current and doesn't break any laws.

She can reduce that time by 12 months if she does community service that could include a public-service announcement, the city attorney's office has said.

Hilton began her 45-day sentence for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

She was mostly confined to a solitary cell in the special needs unit away from the other 2,200 inmates.

Hilton spent only three days there before she was released with electronic monitoring by Sheriff Lee Baca for an unspecified medical condition that he later said was psychological.

The following day Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer, who sentenced the hotel heiress, called her back into court and ordered her returned to jail, saying he had not approved her release.

Hilton left the courtroom in tears calling for her mother and shouting, "It's not right!"

She was then taken to the downtown Twin Towers jail, which houses men and the county jail's medical treatment centre, where she underwent medical and psychiatric exams to determine where she should be confined.

Hilton's stay there cost taxpayers 1,109.78 US dollars a day, more than 10 times the cost of housing inmates in the general population.

The move by Baca caused a firestorm of criticism over whether the Hilton was getting special treatment due to her wealth and fame.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has launched an investigation into the allegations.

Hilton's path to jail began September 7, when she failed a sobriety test after police saw her weaving down a street in her Mercedes-Benz on what she said was a late-night run to a hamburger stand.

She pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to 36 months probation, alcohol education and 1,500 US dollars in fines.

After that sentence Hilton was stopped twice by officers who discovered her driving with a suspended license.

The second stop landed her in Sauer's courtroom, where he sentenced her to jail.