Nicole Richie Charged With DUI

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Reality TV star Nicole Richie has been charged with DUI some two months after her arrest for driving the wrong direction on a busy Los Angeles highway.  On December 11th of 2006, Richie was arrested when she drove her black SUV down the wrong side of the highway, then stopped, blocking one lane of traffic.

Police reports state that, at the time of her arrest, Nicole Richie failed the sobriety test and then confessed to being under the influence of marijuana and the painkiller Vicodine. The official charge is driving under the influence of alcohol and a (unspecified) drug.  The charge also mentions that Richie has a former DUI conviction in 2003.

Nicole Richie is the daughter of 70’s soul crooner, Lionel Richie, who’s love songs flooded the airwaves in the late 70’s through the early 80’s. Nicole Richie stars opposite Paris Hilton in the reality TV show, The Simple Life. The premises of the show is to take two rich girls and put them in everyday situations and then record how they cope. In the past Richie has had to make sausage, clean house, and travel cross country without her credit card.

Paris Hilton and Richie were reported best friends forever at the beginning of the series. The friendship soured after Richie showed several friends Paris Hilton’s famous, unauthorized, sex tape. The two have since made amends.

Richie has a history of drug abuse and anorexia. At the time of her arrest, the 5’1” inch actress weighed only 89lbs. Her arrest came only six weeks after a stay in a treatment program for anorexia. She has also been in rehab for heroine addiction.

The DUI charge is consider a misdemeanor. The most likely sentence will be community service.  Hopefully, Nicole Richie will seek the help she so desperately needs.