Entertainment> Celebrities

Paris Hilton out of jail medical ward

(AP)
2007-06-14 20:29

LYNWOOD, Calif. - Paris Hilton has been transferred out of a medical ward at a Los Angeles County jail and returned to the all-women's facility where she began her sentence for a probation violation more than a week ago, a sheriff's official said Thursday.

After her brief release last week after just three days behind bars caused an uproar, a judge sent Hilton, 26, back into the jail system, starting at a downtown correctional treatment center where she was to undergo medical and psychiatric exams to determine where she should be held.

Around 11 p.m. Wednesday, she was returned to the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, the women's prison where she had started out, Lt. Daryl Meeks told The Associated Press.

Meeks would not elaborate on where in that facility the heiress was housed. When she began her 45-day sentence on June 3, she was confined to a solitary cell in a special needs unit away from other inmates.

Hilton's case had caused a firestorm of criticism over whether the celebrity was getting special treatment. Sheriff Lee Baca said Hilton had been released on house arrested because of an undisclosed medical condition.

An outraged judge sent her back to jail Friday. Hilton was in tears and shouting "It's not right!" as she was escorted from Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer's courtroom.

A day later, she released a statement saying she wouldn't appeal her sentence. She is expected to serve 23 days because of credit for good behavior.

Attorneys who have handled similar cases have said her treatment was neither special or unusual. The Los Angeles County jail system is so overcrowded that thousands of prisoners have been released early, many serving only 10 percent of their sentences for non-violent crimes.

In Hilton's case, though, the sheriff's decision was based on a medical condition.

Baca said he had learned from one of her doctors that she was not taking a certain medication while in custody, and that her "inexplicable deterioration" puzzled county psychiatrists.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has launched an investigation into whether the multimillionaire received special treatment because of her wealth and fame.

Hilton's path to jail began Sept. 7, when she failed a sobriety test after police saw her weaving down a street in her Mercedes-Benz. She pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to 36 months' probation.

In the months that followed she was stopped twice by officers who discovered her driving on a suspended license. The second stop landed her in Sauer's courtroom, where he sentenced her to jail.