Another Celebrity Slap On The Wrist
Wednesday - May 03, 2006
| Share
Del.icio.usNews flash: Lost actress chooses jail time over community service.
That’s right, Michelle Rodriguez opted to spend five days in jail for DUI and pay a $500 fine.
Big whooping deal.
But that’s not all. Then she was released two days later!
She pleaded guilty to a single count and got off easy. She could have received 14 days in jail, been fined $1,500 and she lost her license. And considering that at the time she was arrested in Kailua she was also on probation for a DUI in Los Angeles, the stiffer penalties wouldn’t have been out of line. Instead, by the time you read this Rodriguez will have served her time.
She’s already out of jail. Wow. How many times will she be given what amounts to a slap on the wrist? One more, two more? Or maybe when she finally hurts or even kills some unlucky motorist or bystander?
What gets me is the argument her attorney presented in Kaneohe District Court. Rodriguez, he said, was on steroids for her allergies. She said the treatment caused her to be “manic.”
Ah, that explains it! Steroids caused her to get liquored up and then get behind the wheel of a potential killing machine with a blood alcohol content twice the legal limit. Gee, she must have been on steroids in L.A., too. Why else would she repeat the same stupid, dangerous mistake?
So let’s chalk this up to another interesting legal defense. First we had the bi-polar hottie defense that allowed a child abuser to go free. Now we have the steroid-popping celebrity defense. While Rodriguez didn’t quite get off scot-free, she certainly isn’t paying a particularly heavy price for putting lives at risk.
I would have respected her more if she’d taken the 240 hours of community service offered by the judge. She could have used the opportunity to talk to kids, tell them she has a problem but she’s working on it. Let them know that even famous people make mistakes, but that they can learn from them. She could have volunteered to be a spokesperson or even an envelope stuffer for MADD. After all, what better way to redeem herself than to work with people who have lost loved ones to drunken drivers?
I do hope this young woman with the promising future sees this as a wake-up call. This could be the lesson that prompts her to get the help she needs. The path she takes could very well determine the quality of the rest of her life.
Sure, she’s riding high right now on a hit TV show. But none of it means anything if she winds up a “lost” cause to the addiction of alcohol - and her own foolish choices.
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS Comments (0) |
Most Recent Comment(s):
