Luann de Lesseps Rejects Plea Deal in Drunken Battery Case

Reality star does not accept offer from Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office

By Samantha Schnurr Feb 14, 2018 8:00 PMTags
LuAnn de LessepsMonica Schipper/FilmMagic

Luann de Lesseps wants to proceed with her case. 

A month after the Real Housewives of New York City star pleaded not guilty to all charges stemming from her Christmas Eve arrest, E! News has confirmed the reality star decided not to accept a plea offer from the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office. 

As the office confirmed to E! News, de Lesseps opted to proceed with discovery. Appearing in court in Florida on Wednesday, the reality star's attorney waived a speedy trial and set a status check for April 13. E! News has reached out to de Lesseps' camp for further comment. 

photos
Real Housewives Legal Scandals
NBC

For those unfamiliar with the case, de Lesseps was arrested in the early hours of Dec. 24 on charges of battery on an officer, disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest with violence and corruption by threat against a public servant. According to a police report obtained by E! News at the time, the reality star allegedly snuck into a hotel room in Palm Beach, Fla. with a man. After police arrived, de Lesseps allegedly refused to leave the room and locked herself in the bathroom.

After opening the door, she allegedly shoved an officer, resisted arrest and later "slipped out of her handcuffs" while in a patrol car. The report said that when they arrived at the police department, she was placed in a holding cell, after which she allegedly "stated again that she was 'going to f--king kill all of you'" to the officers multiple times. In early Jan., she issued a not guilty plea

Meanwhile, after publicly apologizing, the star checked into a rehab center in Jupiter, Fla. for a 21-day treatment program and returned home in late January, where she resumed filming the Bravo show. "She sounds amazing. Very clear-headed," an insider told E! News at the time. "She's in a good space right now." 

As another source said, "She is going to be sober. She's serious about it."