courthouse (320 posts)

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

DMX's apparently never one to pass up a promotional opportunity.

The rap-sheet-laden rapper turned up in a Phoenix courtroom today for arraignment on felony charges of theft and identity theft, and aside from pleading not guilty, he took the time to offer a preview of his new album to the assembled masses.

At an impromptu press conference after the arraignment, DMX touted his forthcoming Walk With Me Now and You'll Fly With Me Later and offered short rap when asked for comment about his legal predicament, a little ditty that went something like this:

"If you ever fall down, get back up!"

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The third time was apparently the charm for Pete Doherty. At least in terms of punctuality.

After missing his two previous hearings on the matter, the Babyshambles frontman finally appeared in British court today to cop to roughing up a paparazzo.

Officially, Doherty pleaded guilty to a charge of causing criminal damage stemming from an encounter last summer.

The Yeovil Magistrates Court accepted Doherty's plea, with the magistrate ruling that there was a "degree of provocation" in the incident before fining the rocker roughly $2,000.

"Yeah, it was OK today. It should have been sorted out ages ago, to be honest," Doherty said outside the court. "It's been hanging over me a long time."

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Matt LeBlanc isn't a shrink—he just plays one in court.

Facing a breach-of-contract complaint from ex-business manager Camille Cerio, the former Friends star has struck back, filing a motion this week in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking a mental examination of his former pal.

In a petition filed Tuesday and obtained by E! News, LeBlanc's camp argues that a psychological evaluation by a court-appointed psychologist is warranted since his onetime money manager made her mental state an issue by claiming a 1995 termination agreement was "unenforceable" because she was stressed out when she signed it.

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50 Cent has made a run for the court order.

The Get Rich or Die Tryin' rapper sued Taco Bell Corp. Wednesday for "diluting the value of his good name" with a guerilla ad campaign that he says was intended to fool the chalupa-craving masses into thinking he had endorsed the fast-food chain.

Last month, Fiddy's camp called the gimmick a "sleazy and ill-conceived publicity stunt."

"Without seeking or obtaining Jackson's authorization, defendant Taco Bell made him the star and focus of its nationwide advertising campaign by using his name, persona and trademark to promote Taco Bell's business and products," stated the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

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Brad Pitt's got a Fight Club sequel in the works. His new sparring partner: paparazzi.

The actor's attorney is threatening legal action against any media outlet that publishes photos snapped "surreptitiously" of Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their family, including new twins Knox and Vivienne, on the grounds of their French estate. Jolie and the newborns checked out of the hospital on Saturday, a week after the birth.

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Jasmine Guy's husband may be preparing to lose his wife, but he isn't giving up his daughter without a fight.

Responding to his estranged wife's April 3 divorce petition, Terrence Duckett has filed court documents requesting joint custody of the duo's 9-year-old daughter, Imani Guy Duckett.

In her original court filing, which cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split, Guy requested primary legal and physical custody.

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Sienna Miller has been called many things by the press. Pushover's not one of them.

For the second time in seven months, the paparazzi-hounded actress has launched legal action against two British tabloids for running topless photos of her—this time with new beau Balthazar Getty—thereby setting off a particularly rousing round of home-wrecker rumors about Miller.

Miller's law firm, Carter-Ruck, has served breach-of-privacy papers to News of the World, The Sun and Big Pictures, the photo agency that snapped the candids of Miller and Getty's clothes-eschewing vacation to Italy.

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Live from New York, it's trouble in Saturday Night land.

A New York judge has upheld a stalking charge against a Long Island man accused of pestering SNL mastermind Lorne Michaels.

According to the complaint, Evans Pidhajecky, a 31-year-old native of Oyster Bay, became an unwanted pen pal of the 63-year-old producer and turned up unannounced on several occasions at NBC's 30 Rock headquarters and Michaels' home near Central Park.

His reason? A distressed Pidhajecky believed his thoughts were being stolen by Michaels and then used as SNL fodder.

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It's no wonder DMX might want to be somebody else.

An Arizona grand jury indicted the rapper Tuesday on two felony counts of theft and taking someone's identify for allegedly using a false name to get out of paying a hospital bill in April, according to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

The 37-year-old, whose real name is Earl Simmons, is said to have tried to pass himself off as "Troy Jones" while undergoing treatment for pneumonia at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale.

Cops picked DMX up on an outstanding warrant Saturday at the Metrocenter mall in Phoenix, the Cradle 2 the Grave star's sixth arrest in three months.

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Courtney Love has been accused of leaving a hole in the books.

A business management and accounting firm has sued the Celebrity Skin artist for failing to fork over a percentage of the proceeds after selling a portion of Nirvana's publishing rights for $19.5 million.

The Los Angeles-based London & Co. claims its cut should have been $975,000, based on an oral agreement Love made with the firm in which she pledged to hand over 5 percent of her earnings, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in L.A. Superior Court.

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No more waffling over Kid Rock's punishment.

The Detroit rap-rocker's battery case is a done deal, with the 37-year-old pleading no contest Monday in a DeKalb County, Ga., courthouse to one count of simple battery in connection to last fall's Waffle House smackdown.

In exchange, the Kid, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, was sentenced to one year of probation, six hours of anger-management counseling, 80 hours of community service and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

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Things aren't only complicated for Denise Richards, they're downright secretive.

Attorneys for both Richards and Charlie Sheen returned to their home away from home this afternoon, the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse, for an emergency closed hearing in their ongoing and ever-acrimonious custody case.

Though neither side divulged exactly what the issue at hand was, both emerged from the session claiming to be no less than ecstatic with the commissioner's ruling.

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