Posted by lil askew at spider-mtc-tb082.proxy.aol.com on March 26, 2001 at 20:10:44:
Monday March 26 06:29 PM EST
Doherty Pleads Innocent to DUI
Shannen Doherty's led a Charmed life on TV, but her real-life run-ins with the law are another matter.
The 29-year-old star of the WB's Charmed pleaded innocent Friday to a drunk-driving charge stemming from a December incident in which her truck was weaving across a Southern California highway.
Doherty did not attend the Ventura County, California, court hearing. But her attorney, Trent Copeland, entered the plea on her behalf and said that he planned to mount a vigorous defense to prove his client's innocence.
"Shannen has, from the very beginning, maintained her innocence, and that has not changed," said Copeland.
The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum's Ford pickup was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol about 3 a.m. in Thousand Oaks, a northern suburb of Los Angeles. Authorities said she was drifting between several lanes on the Ventura Freeway, and after she was pulled over, allegedly refused to take a Breathalyzer test.
She was subsequently taken to Ventura County Jail, where she was given a blood test. Prosecutors say the actress registered a blood-alcohol level of .13 percent--over the .08 percent legal limit.
But Copeland denies the actress' blood was above the legal limit, and that he had it tested by an independent laboratory. While he wouldn't go into details about the tests, he did say the results indicated Doherty is innocent of the drunk-driving charge.
The judge set an April 30 trial date.
While Doherty's weaving her magic for her WB hit, this isn't her first run-in with the law. In 1992, the actress ended up in the middle of an L.A. nightclub scuffle. Two years later, an ex-landlord filed suit against her claiming she trashed her rented apartment and failed to conjure up the rent.
In 1997, Doherty was sentenced to an anger-management class after she smashed a car window with a beer bottle during an argument outside another L.A. club.
Doherty's latest spell in court comes not long after her 90210 TV twin, Jason Priestley, was sentenced to five days in a Los Angeles work-release facility after pleading no contest to drunk-driving charges.