Post by The Big PINK One♥ on Jan 4, 2008 13:06:57 GMT -5
This is seriously getting out of hand...
LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears entered a new chapter in her troubled life surrounded by paparazzi and police wanting to know more about a three-hour showdown involving her two young sons.
The 26-year-old pop star was taken by ambulance from her home late Thursday after police were called to help end the standoff.
"For her own welfare, she was transferred to a local hospital for medical treatment," Officer April Harding said early Friday, declining to elaborate. No injuries were reported.
"Entertainment Tonight" reported on its Web site that Spears was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Cedars spokeswoman Simi Singer said she could neither confirm nor deny the report, citing patient confidentiality laws.
Tara Scott, representing Spears, and Mark Vincent Kaplan, representing Spears' ex-husband Kevin Federline, spent about 30 minutes in chambers Friday with Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon, who has been handling their custody dispute.
They made no comments to reporters.
Spears was conscious late Thursday when paramedics took her out of her home in a gurney and loaded her into an ambulance that left her house escorted by a row of police cars.
She appeared to arriving officers to be under the influence of an unknown substance, Officer Jason Lee told City News Service.
A horde of paparazzi chased the ambulance as it left the neighborhood, their strobes going off as they held up their cameras to the vehicle's rear window. Another group of videographers met the ambulance at the hospital, banging on the ambulance doors.
Officers were called to Spears' house around 8 p.m. to respond to the custody dispute over her sons, 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James, Harding said.
By about 10:30 p.m., six police cars, two ambulances and a firetruck had entered the gated-community that includes Spears' house. Several police cars were seen in the area earlier in the night.
Spears turned over the children around 10:50 p.m., Lee said.
The singer and Federline have been involved in a long and very public custody battle. Federline has temporary custody of the children because Spears, who has limited visitation rights, has defied court orders. The couple were married in October 2004 and divorced in July.
During the past year, Spears has been photographed without underwear, and has appeared to be drunk and out of control. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella, spent a month in rehab and has had a handful of fender benders, including one in which she ran over a photographer's foot.
Earlier Thursday, Spears appeared for a deposition in her custody dispute.
Spears was deposed for just 14 minutes, Kaplan told reporters after Spears left.
She called in sick for a Dec. 12 court-ordered deposition, but was photographed that day driving with a friend. She also didn't show up for a session Wednesday, Kaplan said.
Spears' attorneys from the firm Trope and Trope on Wednesday filed a court motion asking to be relieved due to a "breakdown" in communication with their client.
Kaplan said Spears' attorneys were present for what became a very abbreviated session, which had been scheduled to last two hours.
"You can imagine in 14 minutes there's not a lot of time to develop questions," he said.
Kaplan said another deposition would be scheduled.
