Britney's father cross-examined at trial
Britney Spears did not appear at her driver’s licence trial last night. Instead, her father did the talking.
Her defence consisted solely of the testimony of Jamie Spears, who told jurors his daughter intends to return to Louisiana once she has custody of her children.
The singer’s lawyer, Michael Flanagan, said in his opening statement that she was exempt from having a California driver’s licence because she did not meet residency requirements.
On cross-examination, however, Jamie Spears acknowledged that his daughter got married, had two children and divorced in California.
Both sides rested their cases last night and jurors will return for deliberations this morning.
Throughout the day yesterday, the possibility of the 26-year-old testifying during the trial remained. That prospect was quashed last night when Mr Flanagan asked Jamie Spears whether he would allow his daughter to take the stand.
“No,” he replied.
The singer’s trial on a minor count of driving without a valid licence began with jury selection on Wednesday. The case is the last remnant of an August 2007 incident in which Spears was photographed hitting a parked car and leaving the scene.
While Spears settled a hit-and-run charge, Mr Flanagan rejected a plea deal that prosecutors offered Spears on the driving-without-a licence charge because he said Spears did not want a criminal record.
Prosecutors relied on evidence from Jamie Spears and two witnesses, a Department of Motor Vehicles investigator and a paparazzo assigned to Britney Spears around-the-clock, to build their case that the singer’s home is in Los Angeles. The paparazzo, Sondro Rodregues, told jurors Britney Spears spends roughly 80% of her time in the area.
Flanagan tried to establish that Los Angeles is a temporary home for Britney Spears and that she will likely leave once she has custody of her young sons. Ex-husband Kevin Federline currently has full custody of the couple’s children, and Spears remains under the conservatorship of her father, who controls the singer’s personal and financial affairs.
Spears’ fate will be decided by a jury of eight women and four men.
Once a jury was seated, the case moved quickly. The prosecution’s first witness, Gary Edmonds, said records indicated that Spears had not applied for a licence as of August 15, 2007 – more than a week after the hit-and-run.
If convicted, Spears faces jail and a fine, although she has no prior criminal record, so her penalty is unlikely to be severe.
Mr Flanagan has said he will appeal if Spears is convicted. Before the trial he had said he was considering mounting no defence, but changed his mind and called Spears’ father. He was able to speak with authority about his daughter’s affairs since he has controlled them since February, when a court granted him conservatorship over her personal and financial matters.
