Sale of surveillance video could help Lohan defense

: 0 Comments Print E-mail Xinhua / Agencies, March 9, 2011

Adjust font size:

Some legal experts said that the sale of the surveillance video that allegedly showed Lindsay Lohan stealing in a jewelry store could help the actress with a new and potent defense, according to a report of Los Angeles Times Tuesday.

The Venice jewelry store has now sold tapes of the actress together with the necklace. The video is scheduled to be available at some point on a website run by Spencer Co. of Beverly Hill.

Legal experts said the sale could prove the store had a financial incentive to accuse Lohan of theft.

Actress Lindsay Lohan arrives at the Beverly Hills Courthouse for a mandatory appearance in Beverly Hills, California September 24, 2010. [Xinhua/Reuters]

"I don't care who it is (shown on the video), it's a negative for the prosecution," said James Blatt, a veteran defense lawyer whose clients have included former San Fernando Valley drug dealer and convicted killer Jesse James Hollywood. "Somebody is getting paid and that should not occur."

The video showed that Lohan, with her male companion, spent 45 minutes -- including a few spent in chatting with the owners -- in the Venice, California store after trying on the necklace in full view. She then walked out of the store without removing the necklace, according to sources with access to that footage.

Lohan's attorney has suggested that she would agree to a plea deal if she would be spared jail time. But in a hearing Feb. 23, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith L. Schwartz told the actress point blank that if she accepts a plea deal she would be serving jail time.