Meanwhile, the allegations against the City Attorney who asked for her jail sentence and his wife (who drove with a suspended license and no insurance but avoided jail even after being in an accident) continue to raise questions about "fairness and hypocrisy" in the LA criminal justice system.
While the federal probe appears to be about issues concerning Mrs. Delgadillio's conduct relating to her business and tax affairs, the publicity is re-raising issues about her other conduct and the sweet deal she got, compared to Paris. As the Times reports today:
Michelle Delgadillo also made headlines when The Times revealed that she had dented her husband's city car while driving with a suspended license.
Velasquez says a "political agenda" lies behind any allegations made against Delgadillo, who is said to be interested in seeking statewide office when his term expires next year.
"Any allegation of wrongdoing is nothing more than garbage being shoveled by the city attorney's political opponents hiding behind the cloak of anonymity," [spokesman]Velasquez said in one such comment. "This is a classic political smear."
Given how her husband asked the court to lower on the boom on Paris, I don't think it's either garbage or a smear. I think it's relevant.
On a related note, Delgadillo's office also insisted on a harsh deal with jail for Kiefer Sutherland. Sutherland was in his 4th year of probation for a DUI when he picked up a second DUI. Delagillo's office charged him not only with the DUI, but with the heavier offense of having a second DUI within 10 years and also sought to have his probation terminated.
Sometimes when you wield too heavy a hammer, it comes back to bite you. Celebrities shouldn't be above the law, but neither should they be treated more harshly than others because of their fame.
Delgadillo, being somewhat of a notorius celebrity himself these days, may come to learn that lesson first-hand.
Here's more from Take Back These Times about City Attorney Delgadillo:
[We] see here from the Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer, and the City Attorney, the frequently corrupt Rocky Delgadillo, a sordid desire to exploit a celebrity for their own purposes, which are publicity, career building and envy of those more successful than they are. Judge Sauer wants to be like Lance Ito in the O.J. Simpson trial without realizing this will never be as notorious a case.
...Delgadillo never sees a celebrity he is unwilling to waste the public's money on. His vendetta against Hilton reminds one of his disproportionate persecution of the actress Winona Ryder. His political career should be brought to a rapid end.
Another celebrity dragged through a trial in L.A. on shoplifting when almost any other defendant would have been offered a deferred judgment: Winona Ryder.
