Lindsay Lohan recovers from illness to attend court hearing
Lindsay Lohan made an overnight dash from New York to Los Angeles to attend a mandatory court hearing on Wednesday morning (30Jan13) after initially insisting she was too ill to fly.
The embattled Mean Girls star had prepared to skip Wednesday's hearing after her new lawyer, Mark Heller, submitted a doctor's note to the court on Tuesday (29Jan13), explaining that his new client had been advised by medics to stay in the Big Apple and rest after contracting a respiratory infection.
Heller claimed the actress had been examined by a doctor on
Saturday (26Jan13) - the same day she was photographed shopping in
Manhattan.
However, Lohan subsequently caught a late-night flight to appear
before Judge Stephanie Sautner and answer allegations she lied to
California police following a car crash last year (12) - and the
court official couldn't help but make light of the sick note,
telling the star, "I'm glad to see you're feeling better."
Sautner then quizzed Lohan about her legal representation following
the departure of her longtime lawyer Shawn Holley earlier this
month (Jan13), and the actress reluctantly admitted she was happy
to have her new lawyer, New York-based Heller, defend her against
the latest charges - even though he is not that familiar with
California law.
The judge approved the change of representation and set the next
hearing for 1 March (13), reports TMZ.com.
Lohan faces three charges relating to her 2012 car crash - giving
false information to a police officer, obstructing or resisting a
police officer in the performance of his duty and reckless driving,
which carry a jail sentence of over 240 days. The incident could
also land her in trouble for violating her probation from her 2011
jewellery theft conviction.