If Keifer Sutherland winds up doing time for his second DUI conviction (the first was in ’04), then c’est la vie. He could do as much as 60 days, according to a DUI lawyer quoted by People‘s Ken Lee. Jail time is good for the soul. I did two days in L.A. County for unpaid traffic tickets when I was in my 20s, and I came out a better man. (I think.) I at least came out with a newfound affection for the simple joys of being free.
The odious aspect is the way it always takes hours to get sprung after a bust. Sutherland, 40, was popped last night at 1 a.m. after making an illegal U-turn and failing a sobriety test. The cops were probably processing him at the LAPD Hollywood station by 2 a.m., if not sooner. But he wasn’t bailed out until 5:43 a.m., meaning he had to sit in a lit cell for three and a half hours, and probably with no sleep.
Sutherland must have called his attorney (or a friend) when he got there, so why the long wait? Either the cops took their sweet-ass time with the processing (which they often do) or his lawyer was unreachable or asleep. If I were Sutherland I would can that lawyer so fast his head would still be spinning right now.
You’re always reminded who your real friends are when you’ve been pinched. A director-screenwriter went through a similar situation several years ago and he called his agent, who happened to be ICM honcho Jeff Berg. Berg came right down at 1:30 in the morning and bailed him out. Good man.