"Lost" stars in court
Friday, January 13, 2006
From E! Online:
Lost star Cynthia Watros will soon find out all about Hawaii's public transit system.
The actress appeared in Oahu's Kaneohe District Court Thursday to plead guilty to a drunken driving charge stemming from her arrest last month.
In turn, District Judge James Dannenberg suspended the actress' driver's license for 90 days, fined her $370 and ordered her to undergo an alcohol assessment and receive 14 hours of counseling.
"I'm sorry," Watros, 37, said after entering her plea.
Per a deal with prosecutors, an additional count of illegal lane changing was dropped.
"This is no fun, but you know how much worse it could have been. Get on with your life, and I wish you luck," Dannenberg told Watros, per the Associated Press.
Watros, who joined the cast of the hit ABC drama this season as Libby the psychologist, was arrested Dec. 1 after she was spotted driving erratically on the Pali Highway, the road connecting the cities of Kailua and Honolulu on the island of Oahu.
Fifteen minutes after Watros' arrest, Michelle Rodriguez, another second season addition to the Lost cast, was also nabbed by police after displaying suspect driving abilities on the same stretch of road.
After failing field sobriety tests, both actresses were taken into custody and later released on $500 bail.
While Watros ultimately elected to admit her mistake and pay the price, Rodriguez opted for a different tactic.
The Girlfight star, who was described as "argumentative and rude" at the time of her arrest, entered a not guilty plea at her arraignment. Her trial was set for Mar. 30.
Watros enjoyed a definite advantage over Rodriguez in that she had no prior criminal record. Rodriguez, on the other hand, is on probation for three driving-related violations in California and as a result, was charged with a second count of driving under the influence at last month's arraignment.
"In the state of Hawaii, we can charge it as a second offense because any offenses that occur in other jurisdictions in the United States also qualify," Deputy Prosecutor Sean Sanada said.
As a result of her drunk driving arrest in Hawaii, prosecutors in California have filed a motion in Los Angeles Superior Court to revoke Rodriguez's probation. A hearing in the matter is scheduled for Jan. 24.
In other Lost news, the series finally sated its fans with a new episode Wednesday night after more than a month of reruns. The episode drew 20.6 million viewers and was handily the night's most watched show.
---Source
Posted byNick at 10:27 PM
