Britney Spears’s trial on charges of driving without a license was an expensive exercise in futility: A mistrial was declared yesterday in Los Angeles with 10 juors wanting to acquit and two to convict. The case will be dropped, the Los Angeles Times reports. Deputy City Attorney Michael Amerian said, “It just goes to show, I think, how difficult it is to convict any celebrity of a crime here in Los Angeles.” The charge stemmed from a 2007 accident in which Spears’ sedan struck a parked car.
The only issue before jurors was whether Spears considered Los Angeles her true home — “domicile” under the vehicle code — and therefore needed a state license. Her defense argued that her native Louisiana was her real home. “It was multiple thousands of dollars that was wasted in this case,” said a defense lawyer, adding that his own bill to Spears “is probably a world record” for a driving without a license case.
Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-spears22-2008oct22,0,1116344.story