OMEN
12-06-2007, 09:24 AM
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5786771,00.jpg
Day prisoner ... this is the police booking photo of Kiefer Sutherland, best know as Jack Bauer the superagent in US TV show 24, and the prison where he has begun a 48-day sentence for drink driving
ACTOR Kiefer Sutherland will immediately begin serving a 48-day sentence for drink-driving, handed down in Los Angeles today, his lawyer says.
The star of the hit TV series 24 will serve the 48 days consecutively rather than in two separate stints as had been previously planned in order to prevent a conflict with the production schedule of the Fox network show.
Fox announced last month it was suspending production on the series due to the screenwriters' strike, so there was no longer any need for Sutherland to break up his jail term into two parts.
Sutherland, who turns 41 later this month, was arrested in September while still on probation for a 2004 drink-driving offence.
In October, he pleaded no contest - the equivalent of a guilty plea - to a single count of driving with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit.
Prosecutors agreed then to recommend he serve 30 days for the new offence plus 18 days for violating his probation in the 2004 case.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stuart Rice endorsed the plea deal and the sentence during a brief hearing attended by the actor today.
The judge gave Sutherland until March 30 to complete his jail term.
But Sutherland's lawyer, Blair Berk, said the actor decided to turn himself in this evening to begin serving his sentence immediately.
The celebrity website TMZ.com later reported the actor was being booked.
Sutherland was also given five years' probation and fined $US510 ($588), according to Assistant City Lawyer Dan Jeffries, who said the actor also was ordered to enrol in an 18-month alcohol education treatment program and to attend six months of weekly alcohol counselling sessions.
The Canadian performer, the son of screen star Donald Sutherland, won an Emmy Award last year for his role as the terrorist-fighting agent Jack Bauer on 24.
The show averaged 13.5 million viewers last season.
Reuters
Day prisoner ... this is the police booking photo of Kiefer Sutherland, best know as Jack Bauer the superagent in US TV show 24, and the prison where he has begun a 48-day sentence for drink driving
ACTOR Kiefer Sutherland will immediately begin serving a 48-day sentence for drink-driving, handed down in Los Angeles today, his lawyer says.
The star of the hit TV series 24 will serve the 48 days consecutively rather than in two separate stints as had been previously planned in order to prevent a conflict with the production schedule of the Fox network show.
Fox announced last month it was suspending production on the series due to the screenwriters' strike, so there was no longer any need for Sutherland to break up his jail term into two parts.
Sutherland, who turns 41 later this month, was arrested in September while still on probation for a 2004 drink-driving offence.
In October, he pleaded no contest - the equivalent of a guilty plea - to a single count of driving with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit.
Prosecutors agreed then to recommend he serve 30 days for the new offence plus 18 days for violating his probation in the 2004 case.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stuart Rice endorsed the plea deal and the sentence during a brief hearing attended by the actor today.
The judge gave Sutherland until March 30 to complete his jail term.
But Sutherland's lawyer, Blair Berk, said the actor decided to turn himself in this evening to begin serving his sentence immediately.
The celebrity website TMZ.com later reported the actor was being booked.
Sutherland was also given five years' probation and fined $US510 ($588), according to Assistant City Lawyer Dan Jeffries, who said the actor also was ordered to enrol in an 18-month alcohol education treatment program and to attend six months of weekly alcohol counselling sessions.
The Canadian performer, the son of screen star Donald Sutherland, won an Emmy Award last year for his role as the terrorist-fighting agent Jack Bauer on 24.
The show averaged 13.5 million viewers last season.
Reuters