‘The O.C.’ star Barton faces DUI charge

‘The O.C.’ star Barton
faces DUI charge

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Mischa Barton was arrested for misdemeanor driving under the influence after her car was stopped by deputy sheriffs early Thursday in West Hollywood. Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said the former star of “The O.C.” was taken into custody at about 2:45 a.m. after deputies saw her car straddling two lanes of traffic and failing to signal while making a turn. The 21-year-old actress was being held in a West Hollywood jail on $10,000 bail. She was arrested for investigation of misdemeanor driving under the influence and driving without a license. Barton played Marissa Cooper on “The O.C.” from 2003 to 2006.

Judge bars more suits
in Connery dispute

NEW YORK — The legal dispute between Sean Connery and his downstairs neighbors has a fed-up judge telling both sides to cool it. In court papers, Burton Sultan calls his neighbor Connery, 77, the antithesis of the suave secret agent he played in numerous James Bond films, branding him “a bully who ignores norms of neighborliness and decency” in the town house they share. Connery and his wife claim the Sultan family’s complaints have delayed needed repairs to the roof, imperiling the Connerys and raising the repair costs. In a decision made public Wednesday, State Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman tossed out many of the Sultans’ claims but slammed the Connerys for what she called their “blunderbuss” legal salvos. She barred both sides from filing any more lawsuits without her permission, saying they “have engaged in a ’slash and burn’ litigation strategy.” The sides have clashed repeatedly over the Connerys’ years-long renovations to their part of the six-story, landmarked 1869 town house.

Snipes’ tax-evasion trial
will remain in Florida

OCALA, Fla. — Wesley Snipes’ federal tax-evasion trial will go forward next month in this central Florida city, despite arguments by the actor’s lawyers. The rulings were made by U.S. District Judge William T. Hodges on Monday, according to court documents. Snipes’ lawyers had claimed the 45-year-old actor cannot get a fair trial in Ocala, located about 80 miles north of Orlando. Snipes previously filed two motions to dismiss or transfer the trial because of racial prejudices. Federal prosecutors have previously said there is “no basis in reality” for Snipes’ claims. An October 2006 federal indictment charges Snipes with fraudulently claiming refunds totaling almost $12 million in 1996 and 1997 for income taxes already paid. The star of the “Blade” trilogy and other films also was charged with failure to file returns from 1999 through 2004.

Today’s birthdays

Comic book creator Stan Lee is 85. Rock singer-musician Edgar Winter is 61. Actor Denzel Washington is 53. Country singer Joe Diffie is 49. Country musician Mike McGuire (Shenandoah) is 49. Country singer-musician Marty Roe (Diamond Rio) is 47. Comedian Seth Meyers is 34. Rhythm-and-blues singer John Legend is 29. Actress Sienna Miller is 26. Actor Thomas Dekker is 20. Actress Mackenzie Rosman is 18.