Britney's Parents: Daughter "At Risk" As She Cavorts Around Beverly Hills

LOS ANGELES — The court commissioner who placed Britney Spears under conservatorship held a closed-door hearing on an unspecified emergency motion Thursday, a day after the troubled pop star was suddenly released from a psychiatric hospital and ended up being pursued through the city by paparazzi.

The motion was brought before Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz by the singer's father, James Spears, and lawyer Andrew Wallet, who is part of the conservatorship, court spokesman Allan Parachini said.

Parachini said that the motion was unopposed but that he could release no details.

"Everything about this matter is sealed," Parachini said after the hearing.

Present in court were attorneys for James Spears, along with Wallet and a court-appointed attorney for Britney Spears.

The singer was taken to a psychiatric hospital at UCLA Medical Center on Jan. 31 under police escort but was discharged Wednesday over the recommendation of her treating psychiatrist and against the wishes of both her parents.

"We are deeply concerned about our daughter's safety and vulnerability and we believe her life is presently at risk," the statement from James and Lynne Spears said. "We ask only that the court's orders be enforced so that a tragedy may be averted."

Goetz last week named James Spears as conservator of his 26-year-old daughter and named him and Wallet conservators of her estate. The commissioner has ordered the conservatorship to last until at least Feb. 14.

Courts place people under conservatorships when it is determined they can no longer care for themselves or their affairs.

Britney Spears' behavior became increasingly bizarre during the past year after she filed for divorce from Kevin Federline in late 2006. She has since lost visitation rights to their sons, Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2.

She was briefly hospitalized earlier in January after a custody dispute drew police to her home.

After being released from the hospital Wednesday, she was spotted driving her Mercedes-Benz and followed by paparazzi who zoomed around her in their vehicles. She eventually got out and turned the driving over to an unidentified man.

Each time the car stopped, photographers swarmed it, shooting photos and video. The singer ultimately went into the Beverly Hills Hotel.

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Raquel Maria Dillon contributed to this report for The Associated Press.

Comments

[fedupnburnin]

02:31 AM on 02/09/2008

I still think this is about using Britney Spears instead of giving the public real news. It's easier to talk a young woman into insanity instead of telling us what's really going on in the country. This is about how rotten and stale the mainstream media is. You can thank the "groundbreakers" at Fox news for this.

[FirstShirt]

10:20 AM on 02/08/2008

She is a very sick person and deserves our sympathy. But, she is no more sick or deserving of our sympathy than any servicemember of person on the street. ENOUGH!

[LoRiseAntlers]

03:49 AM on 02/08/2008

So?!? I could not care any less.You do realize that there are innocent women and children enslaved all over the globe,don't you?You have heard about the wars in Iraq,Afghanistan,and Africa,haven't you?You do realize that there are millions of poor right here at home,don't you?

Some selfish little cebutard losing her marbles because she's stopped getting her way all the time is garbage in,garbage out.I have no sympathy for her or her family,outside of her children,that is.They're nothing more than a herd of southern-fried trailer park drama queens,and anybody who thinks they're worthy of any attention other than that given to a sideshow is an idiot.

[Poised]

01:32 AM on 02/08/2008

Situation is worse than the papers/tv shows acknowledge. The Smoking Gun has a copy of document sworn by Lynne Spears when Brit was last hospitalized: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0205083spears1.html

Apparently Osama "Sam" Lufti, her ersatz manager, is making a concerted effort to drive Brit off the rails. He keeps her drugged, has paparazzi living in her house. One wonders what kind of photos they've taken that gives him such power over her. Blackmail? Of course he denies it but Lynne's sworn statement is really chilling.

Poor stupid little "star."

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

03:32 PM on 02/07/2008

She has parents? I would have never guessed.

[urbanscorpio88]

02:37 PM on 02/07/2008

FOX News had a helicopter recording the circus that is Britney being chased by up to 20 SUVs filled with paparazzi all taking a left at Robertson Blv just because she took a left. Between them, they caused a major traffic jam. This girl obviously likes the attention she gets, Instead of laying low, she got back behind the wheel and went to meet her boyfriend. She thrives on this kind of crap, LAPD should arrest her on some trumped charge before they kill someone.

[knerd]

01:57 PM on 02/07/2008

During the Reagan presidency, mental patients or drug addicted patients over 18 became legally able to sign themselves out of any treatment center at any time.

There is a definite need to protect the rights of patients in treatment, but the country threw the baby out with the bathwater.

Britney goes free.

[Lucille]

12:29 PM on 02/07/2008

I don't understand how the hospital could release Britney without notifying her parents, knowing what it took to get her to the hospital in the first place.

If her parents were given notice, perhaps they could have moved Brit directly to a private facility. How are they going to get Brit into treatment now?

[Lucille]

12:42 PM on 02/07/2008

Check from People Magazine:

"The doctor overseeing Spears's care had wanted her to stay, (as did her parents), but the decision was overridden by the court representative, the source said.

The source said that the doctor who was vetoed was not Spears's psychiatrist Dr. Deborah Nadel, but another attending doctor at UCLA. Once Nadel issued the singer's 72-hour hold at UCLA, Nadel was not involved in Spears's hospitalization, the source said."

So it was the court appointed "representative" that overruled the doctors in the hospital. If Brit comes to harm or God forbids has an accident, the family should sue the hell out of the City of Los Angeles.

[deckard70]

01:48 PM on 02/07/2008

The cliche that if there aren't cut marks on the wrists the person-at-risk gets discharged, is proven yet again.

[Dantana]

11:00 AM on 02/07/2008

She is mentally ill and if she doesn't get help those two little boys will end up with her fortune like Anna Nicole Smith's girl.
Get help or cash in your chips, Brit!

[lamarguerite]

10:50 AM on 02/07/2008

I am an environmental blogger. What saddens me most is the amount of attention Britney is receiving, compared to how little is devoted to such a huge issue as global warming. We are all doomed in ten years unless we start acting quick and changing our behaviors and policies, and yet the topic is a one on the popularity scale, whereas Britney is a ten at the other end.

http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com

[urbanscorpio88]

02:30 PM on 02/07/2008

Sorry dude, this is the entertainment section, everything here is related to celebrities or entertainment.Unfortunately, the HuffPost does not have a tab dedicated to environment though I can understand your reasoning.

[kellygrrrl]

10:10 AM on 02/07/2008

I really think the Stalkarazzi needs to back-off. I cannot believe it is legal for them to hunt her like an animal in the woods.

[BetterDays]

09:02 AM on 02/07/2008

Yes, Britney is "at risk" but public officials and the court system should be concerned about the innocent public as she chooses to create chaos wheeling around town because she needs the unhealthy attention. Enough is enough. Someone has to take control of this disaster waiting to happen. What about the rights and safety of other citizens? The public is the victim as we are forced endure the expense, the unsafe conditions, and the ensuing chaos she CHOOSES to create. Most are sympathetic to mental illness but not when one person is allowed to put others at risk with her ridiculous behaviors.