The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has declined to file charges against T.I. following his arrest September 1 on alleged drug possession.
According to DA office spokeswoman Jane Robinson, her office rejected the filing of misdemeanor charges in part because the rapper (born Clifford Harris) has already been sentenced to serve prison time for a probation violation in connection with the arrest.
According to the Charge Evaluation Worksheet filed Monday morning (October 25) in Los Angeles, "D [defendant] is the driver of a car stopped for traffic violation. Deputy smells marijuana and searches car and occupants for source of odor. Deputy finds 4 pills of ecstasy in D's pants. Deputies also find marijuana in car and other narcotics in possession of one of the passengers. D is on federal probation in Georgia and has already been sentenced to 10 months [ed. 11 months] in prison for violation stemming from this arrest. Given amount of facts above, case rejected."
A spokesperson for T.I. said he is scheduled to turn himself in to begin his prison sentence next Monday. It was unknown at press time how the latest stint behind bars will affect the upcoming release of T.I.'s long-awaited King Uncaged, which the MC recorded during his supervised release from his previous prison bid.
Robinson would not comment on a TMZ report attributed to unidentified "law enforcement sources" that there were "significant legal issues" over the probable cause claimed by police that led to the arrest of the rapper and his wife, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle. "Cops claimed they smelled marijuana but no pot was ever booked into evidence," TMZ reported. "And, we're told ... T.I. was pulled out of his $250,000 Maybach immediately after he made the illegal U-turn and prior to any registration check."
T.I. was sentenced to 11 months in prison October 15 by a federal judge at a probation hearing, during which the Atlanta MC was found to have violated the terms of his supervised release. The prosecution sought to send T.I. back to prison for two years, but the rapper pleaded with the judge to lessen his punishment and instead help him with his drug dependency, which was not specified.
According to police documents obtained by several media outlets leading up to the hearing, at the time of his arrest, the rapper tested positive for opiates, was in possession of Ecstasy and was also associating with a felon, who was present in his vehicle during the bust, also in violation of the terms of T.I.'s probation of federal felony gun charges.
T.I. was released from a halfway house earlier this year after serving seven months in a low-security facility in Arkansas. The prison time stemmed from an October 2007 arrest when T.I., a convicted felon, attempted to purchase illegal firearms. He was able to reach a unique plea deal at the time — upon the condition that he would speak to youth, complete community service and be placed under house arrest — and he was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. After his release, he was placed on strict probation.
Image Credit: Kelsey McNeal/ABCWelcome back, DANCMSTRs! Week 6's theme is “Rock and Roll.” The Harold Wheeler Ensemble could bust out a hearty rendition of “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do Foxtrot)” at any moment. Hold on to your sequined hat!
Image Credit: Brooke PalmerKevin Greutert edited the first five Saw movies and directed the most recent pair—last year’s Saw VI and Saw 3D, which opens Friday. So it isn’t a huge surprise to discover that the horror franchise, in which victims must try to escape torture-traps set by Tobin Bell’s character Jigsaw, has infiltrated his subconscious. “I do have Saw dreams,” says the filmmaker. “I can’t even escape it in my sleep.”
Image Credit: Brooke PalmerThe director does admit to being “very daunted” by the idea of making a 3-D movie with almost no prep time. “I got to Toronto just a little over a week before we went to camera,” he says. “There was a lot of crazy turmoil in this production. Frankly, I’m glad it’s over. Because there were definitely things that I would have done a lot differently if I had been on the film from the beginning. But at the same time, they wouldn’t have brought me on so suddenly and at the last minute if they didn’t trust my opinion. It all worked out.”
Image Credit: Brooke PalmerMoney, however, can’t buy you everything. Saw 3D was originally slated to hit cinemas on October 22, the same day as Paranormal Activity 2. But in July, Saw distributors Lionsgate pushed the film back a week. The move seems like a wise choice, given the extraordinary box office success of Paranormal Activity 2, which grossed $41.5 over the weekend. “There were assorted reasons for why it happened,” says Greutert of his film’s release date change. “But I think it was a good choice.”
I once spent an unpleasant month trying to lose 25 pounds so I could box German director Uwe Boll. The infamously craptastic filmmaker — and onetime amateur pugilist — had challenged critics to, literally, get in the ring with him, but insisted that his opponents weigh less than 200 pounds. (Yes, yes, I’m a big fat bastard — please feel free to tell me something I don’t know.) Eventually, my superiors at EW banned me form battling Boll, on the grounds that having one of their staffers sweatily duke it out with The Word’s Worst Director, and probably suffer a massive coronary in the process, was “beneath the dignity” of this fine organ. I guess they had a point. As a result, Boll sent an email calling me a “p—y,” which I though was a bit rich coming from someone who didn’t want to fight an overly lardy entertainment journalist, but there you go.
Image Credit: Danny Feld/ABCHalloween episodes are always fun. But the best ones still manage to reveal something about their characters, such as that Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s former vengeance demon Anya is afraid of bunnies, and Bones‘ Brennan, who doesn’t understand 99.9 percent of pop culture references, insists upon dressing up as Wonder Woman every year. Which of this year’s remaining Halloween-themed episodes (sorry, Parenthood and One Tree Hill) sounds like it will become a classic? (We’ve got details straight from the networks on 22 shows. If we’ve missed one, add it in the comments.) Spoiler alert!