Celebrity Court

A recent Nancy Grace show brought up the subject of Casey Anthony’s Google search for the 100th episode of “One Tree Hill.” Casey Anthony made this search shortly before her daughter Caylee Anthony disappeared.

Nancy Grace points out that during this particular episode of “One Tree Hill” a nanny kidnaps a child and dyes his hair to change his appearance. The storyline of the show was similar to the story that Casey Anthony told police regarding her child’s disappearance. Casey Anthony told police that she believed a nanny was involved in her daughter’s case and the description of the woman matched the kidnapper on “One Tree Hill” show.

According to Nancy Grace the Anthony family also mentioned that it was possible that Caylee Anthony’s hair color could have changed, again, similar to the television show’s plot. So is it possible that Casey Anthony watched the 100th episode of “One Tree Hill” and came up with the idea of a nanny kidnapping story? I suppose anything is possible but it’s impossible to know what happened to Caylee Anthony without more information. See what CNN’s Nancy Grace has to say on the subject:

19-year old Chris Brown, one of the hottest R&B singers in the world, is facing serious allegations of an assault on a female and missed his chance to perform at the 51st Grammy Awards because he was wanted by authorities. The evening of Sunday, February 8, 2009 Brown turned himself into police with the help of his celebrity lawyer. The star was arrested on one count of suspicion of making felony criminal threats and released when he posted $50,000 bail.

Police have stated that an “unidentified female” alleged that Chris Brown assaulted her shortly before 12:30 a.m. Sunday after a heated argument that took place in the car. Someone heard a female screaming and called 911. When the police arrived Chris Brown had already left.

Chris Brown’s girlfriend Rihanna canceled her scheduled Grammy Awards appearance and an unidentified source told the media they saw her face battered and bruised. If it isn’t obvious enough that the “unidentified female” is Rihanna, celebrity gossip site TMZ has insider information that has confirmed that Rihanna was indeed the victim of Chris Brown’s violent episode.

Police are now investigating Chris Brown on domestic violence and felony battery allegations. Rihanna has had to cancel her upcoming concert in Malaysia. Neither Rihanna or Chris Brown have made any public statements regarding the alleged assault or Grammy Awards Show cancellations. All media reports are based on witness statements and leaked insider information. Chris Brown’s huge fan base is still holding out hope that there is another side to this story and that somehow Brown will be found innocent. But right now things aren’t looking too hopeful for the young musician.

Exactly 13 years ago O.J. Simpson made history when he was acquited of murdering his wife Nicole Brown Simson. But this time the ex pro football star wasn’t so lucky. In the case of the October 3, 2008 armed robbery 61 year-old O.J. Simpson was found guilty and today, December 5, 2008 he was sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison. Simpson held back tears during the sentencing, obviously overcome with emotion. The robbery was only six minutes long and O.J. will likely be paying for it for the remainder of his life.

Nick Bollea (a.k.a. Nick Hogan), the son of celebrity wrestler Hulk Hogan was released from Pinellas County Jail yesterday after serving a 166 day sentence. The was released three months early for good behavior.

Nick Bollea was sentenced after being found guilty to reckless driving related charges in 2007 which left his best friend John Graziano permanently paralyzed.

Bollea’s family has stood by him during his prison term, despite the bitter divorce of his parents that took place while he was jailed.

Nick Bollea became a household name after appearing on the popular reality television show “Hogan Knows Best” which documented the day to day life of Hulk Hogan and his family.

Bob Duff has been sentenced to 10 days in jail after a Texas judge found him to be in contempt.

It all started when Hilary Duff’s parents who are going through a bitter divorce disagreed on her swank birthday party planned for this September 28 when Hilary turns 21.

Susan Duff wanted her ex to pay $25,000 towards the party, the judge ended up ordering him to pay $12,500. Millionaire or not you would think that Bob Duff has the right to say no to Hilary, what a spoiled brat.

I’m very excited to be the new author here at Celebrity Court. I will do my best to keep you updated on the latest celebrity court cases, law suits, and other interesting legal related news! It’s been a while here since the last post and some of this season’s top celebrity stories may have been missed.

Here are a few of the stories that have made headlines around the world:

Uma Thurman went through quite an ordeal after her disturbed stalker Jack Jordan was arrested in October 2007 for aggravated harassment and assault. He was found guilty but ended up being released in early June 2008 when Judge Carro issued Jordan 3 years probation and a 5 year restraining order.

Rob Lowe and his wife Sheryl spent months in the top news headlines after they sued their former nanny Jessica Gibson in April 2008. She in turn countersued the Lowe’s claiming that the couple had been sexually inappropriate towards her during the time of her employment.

The Lowe’s claim that the nanny attempted to extort money from them. The judge dismissed several claims on both sides and soon both the Lowe’s and Gibson were claiming victory. Rob Lowe is now being sued by a second former nanny. You can read more details on the law suit and accusations here.

Nick Hogan, the son of wrestler Hulk Hogan was charged with wreckless driving involving serious bodily injury and sent to prison on May 9, 2008. The then 17 year old was sentenced to eith months in Pinellas county Jail, 5 years probation, a 3 year driver’s license suspension, and 500 hours of community service. His former best friend John Graziano was permanently injured in the car crash.

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According to Perez Hilton, Jason Wahler, best known for being Lauren Conrad’s ex-boyfriend on the MTV “reality” show The Hills, is in a Seattle jail. Wahler is serving time after his April arrest for assault, criminal trespass and underage drinking. No word on how long he will be in the Seattle jail.

According to Wahler’s representatives, “Jason is taking full responsibility for his previous actions . . . He would like to be an example to young people to make them realize that there are consequences for bad behavior. He is making amends and looks forward to continuing success in his career.”

Fans of The Hills know that Wahler went to a rehabilitation center, reportedly for both drugs and alcohol. He since then has been attending AA meetings and recently became engaged, all well-documented on The Hills.

While the majority of the show is reportedly scripted and not really “real,” clearly Wahler’s alcohol and drug problems were not faked for the show. I am sure that he is finding out that the consequences of his actions and learning that just being on a television show cannot prevent you from having to deal with the consequences. At least from the statement from his rep, it does seem like he is trying to move on and become a better person.

I know that The Hills filming is still going on right now and I wonder if this will be addressed on the show. Maybe Lauren will mention talking to Jason on the phone from jail or maybe they will be at AREA talking about Jason being in jail. Ooh! Maybe Lauren will visit Jason at the jail! Although I don’t think that Lauren leaves California except when she is going to New York City.

Although many expected rapper T.I. to be released on bond following his hearing before a magistrate yesterday, he was instead ordered to remain in jail until Friday on weapons charges. He was arrested after reportedy purchasing several machine guns from a man who was cooperating with federal officials.

According to TMZ, the Friday court hearing will be to determine if there is probable cause to detain T.I. and whether or not he will be given bond. Certainly the judge is going to find probable cause for the arrest, even based on what little we know about the case. It does not take all that much to amount to probable cause, only that at the time of the arrest, there is a “a reasonable belief that a crime has been committed.” Presumably there were a number of police officers watching the buy go down and that is sufficient for probable cause.

The real focus of the hearing will likely be the bond. The prosecutors are reportedly arguing for no bail, presumably because he is a flight risk and because of the potential danger to the community.  Anyone with a lot of money can be a potential flight risk, although typically people with money can make bail, which is probably why they want to get no-bond.

T.I.’s previous convictions, as well as the number of weapons that he allegedly attempted to purchase are things that the judge will considering in deciding whether to grant him bond. Usually no-bond cases are reserved for defendants facing murder charges or other violent crimes. I cannot imagine the judge giving him no-bond, no matter how menacing the cache of weapons looks.

The photo above, courtesy of TMZ, shows the weapons that T.I. allegedly purchased.

T.I., weapons charges

Lou Pearlman, the leader behind boy bands The Backstreet Boys and N’Sync may have had more than a fatherly-mentor role with the young men in his band. According to allegations by The New York Post, Pearlman reportedly made inappropriate sexual advances toward the teens in his groups.

Jane Carter, the mother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter said that “certain things” happened and she had to warn the mothers of the other boys about what Pearlman was really like.

Steve Mooney, a former assistant to Pearlman and wanna-be singer, asked Pearlman what he needed to do in order to get a shot in one of his groups. According to Mooney, Pearlman “leaned back in his chair, in his white terry cloth robe and white underwear, and spread his legs and said, ‘You’re a smart boy. Figure it out.’”

Other allegations have also come from members of former groups Take 5 and LFO, which appear to indicate that Pearlman’s predatory actions were not limited to one or two people.

What surprises me about these allegations is that they were not made public at the time that they happened and that charges were not filed against him. Perhaps those involved wanted to spare themselves public humiliation and wanted to keep it a secret. This is a normal response when someone is abused, but I would imagine the fear and shame would be greater when you know that the entire country will know about what happened to you.

Pearlman is currently in jail awating trial on bank fraud, after he allegedly duped investors out of $315 million. He has not been charged in connection with any sex related offenses.

Lou Pearlman, Nick Carter, Steve Mooney, Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, LFO, Take5

Foxy Brown was ordered to serve a year in jail following a probation violation. Her original offense, for which she received the probation, involved an assault on two women at a nail salon.

She was also indicted for an alleged attack on a Brooklyn woman with a BlackBerry and for battery in connection with an incident at a Florida hair salon in February.

Brown, who is three months pregnant, is repotedly eligible for parole in eight months. If she is not let out early, she will have to give birth in jail and her child will be taken from her until her release.

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In what has to be one of the shortest jail stints on record, Nicole Richie disposed of her jail obligations yesterday by spending just 82 minutes in jail. According to TMZ, Nicole was in a jail cell for only 35 minutes! She was scheduled to serve 96 hours after pleading guilty to driving under the influence as a result of her arrest following her trip the wrong way down the highway.

Nicole Richie, DUI