cannabisnews.com: Judge Says Downey Jr. Served Enough Time





Judge Says Downey Jr. Served Enough Time
Posted by FoM on December 19, 2000 at 13:53:49 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: Sacramento Bee
The judge who ordered Robert Downey Jr. to prison for violating probation in an earlier drug case ruled Tuesday that the actor served enough time behind bars.Superior Court Judge Lawrence J. Mira also told the Oscar-nominated star of "Chaplin" that the hearing to "re-evaluate credits on time served" had nothing to do with a pending drug case in Riverside County.
Looking at Downey, who wore a gray blazer, Mira wished the actor good luck.Downey was charged Dec. 11 with two felony drug counts and a misdemeanor stemming from his Thanksgiving weekend arrest at a Palm Springs resort. He will be arraigned Dec. 27 in Indio.If convicted, Downey faces a maximum of six years in state prison on the felonies and a year in a Riverside County jail on the misdemeanor.The actor didn't speak to reporters when he left the courthouse after Tuesday's brief hearing.Last August, Downey was released from the state prison in Corcoran after the 2nd District Appellate Court agreed with defense lawyers that there was an error in calculating the length of his sentence.Mira failed to specify whether a felony probation violation sentence would run concurrently or consecutively with the misdemeanor counts, the lawyers said. When a judge doesn't make that part of the sentence, it automatically runs concurrently.As a result, the appeals court said he was not given proper credit for time served.Before he went to prison, Downey spent 53 days in a drug rehabilitation center as part of a 15-month sentence for misdemeanor convictions of driving under the influence, carrying an unloaded weapon in his car and being under the influence.Downey, 35, admitted during a probation hearing that he was missing scheduled drug tests and Mira sentenced him to three years in prison for violating his probation.Downey was arrested Nov. 25 after an anonymous 911 call led police investigators to a room at Merv Griffin's Resort Hotel and Givenchy Spa. The police allegedly found Downey with cocaine and methamphetamine.After Downey's arrest last month, his publicist assessed his client's situation."He's a recovering addict. Recovering addicts have relapses. He's working hard at his sobriety as he has for the last 18 months," publicist Alan Nierob said.Downey has had a recurring role on "Ally McBeal" since his release from prison. His other film credits include "Less Than Zero," "Natural Born Killers," "One Night Stand," "Two Girls and a Guy" and "U.S. Marshals."The actor's legal troubles date to June 1996 when he was stopped for speeding on the Pacific Coast Highway and authorities found cocaine, heroin and a pistol in his vehicle.A month later he was found passed out on a child's bed in a neighbor's home. Three days later, he was arrested for leaving a recovery center.Complete Title: Judge in Earlier Case Says Downey Jr. Served Enough TimeSource: Sacramento Bee (CA)Published: December 19, 2000Copyright: 2000 The Sacramento BeeAddress: P.O.Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852Contact: opinion sacbee.comWebsite: http://www.sacbee.com/Forum: http://www.sacbee.com/voices/voices_forum.htmlFeedback: http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.htmlCannabisNews Articles - Robert Downey Jr. http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Downey
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