Courts quibble Jessica Sierra's probation fix

From our breaking news blog:

Jessica Sierra was back in court this morning trying to resolve a problem with her probation transfer to a California rehab center. California probation officials say Florida violated an inter-state compact by allowing Sierra to go to California without prior approval from probation officials there.

Sierra’s attorney, John Fitzgibbons, told Hillsborough Circuit Judge Daniel Perry he had worked out a solution. Florida Department of Correction officials will send an e-mail to California authorities today to expedite a probation transfer request for Sierra, Fitzgibbons said. He hopes to have the issue resolved and Sierra back in rehab in Pasadena by the end of week.

“Right now it’s just red tape and bureaucracy,” Fitzgibbons said, who noted that Sierra has been sober for 99 days.

Sierra was joined in court by her grandparents, Jose and Betty Sierra. “We’re very happy with the progress she’s making, and we’re focused on her complete recovery,” her grandmother said.

Sierra was placed on probation in November after being charged with battery and cocaine possession charges, accused of throwing a cocktail glass at a Hyde Park Cafe patron’s head and having the drug in her purse. A drunken episode in Ybor City in December caused her to violate the terms of her probation and face new charges of disorderly intoxication and obstructing an officer without violence.

Your tax dollars at work, people. And now that we've seen the finale to VH1's Celebrity Rehab, we want to know what happened with that whole transfer to a Sober Living facility.

[Photo: Sierra abd Fitzgibbons in court today. Carrie Pratt/Times]

Comments

[sober living california]

Sober living environments grew out of a need to have safe and supportive place for people to live while they were in recovery. They are primarily meant to provide housing for people who have just come out of rehab and need a place to live that is structured and supporting for those in recovery.

-jomie-

[soberpacificliving]

Avoiding drugs and alcohol is much easier when you are constantly being looked after. There are always counseling sessions to attend, 12-Step meetings to go to, group discussions and a variety of other activities that continually keep you focused on recovery and keep you occupied as well.

[soberpacificliving]

Avoiding drugs and alcohol is much easier when you are constantly being looked after. There are always counseling sessions to attend, 12-Step meetings to go to, group discussions and a variety of other activities that continually keep you focused on recovery and keep you occupied as well.

[nathan harris]

Isn't it more important that Jessica is rehab, not court

[whatever]

She went to sober living and had some relapses there. She was back in treatment and doing well again, though, when she was had to return to Florida for a hearing in her first court case. She was still in Tampa, waiting around to get permission from the parole board to get permission to return to California and treatment, when she was arrested again. All her fault, of course, but if it weren't for all the red tape, she would not have even been in Florida the day of her arrest; she would have been back in treatment in California. The Department of Motor Vehicles and Department of Corrections are the two government agencies that seem to epitomize "red tape".