Wednesday, 10 January 2007

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Paris Hilton pleads not guilty to driving under the influence

Attorney appears in court for heiress

Paris Hilton pleaded not guilty to DUI charges Tuesday in a Los Angeles court. Her attorney made an appearance on her behalf.

Hilton, 25, was arrested on Sept. 7 just after midnight for driving erratically in her silver Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren in Hollywood.

She scored 0.08 on a Breathalyzer, the minimum blood alcohol level required for a DUI arrest in California.

After Hilton's arrest, her rep, Elliot Mintz, told PEOPLE: "Paris regrets the entire event. It was personally humiliating for her; she is not taking it lightly or frivolously."

Following her release from jail, Hilton called in to Ryan Seacrest's L.A. radio show, explaining on-air that she hadn't eaten anything all day and had worked for hours on the set of her new music video.

She drank one margarita at an event that evening, she said, and was on her way to a fast-food restaurant when she was pulled over.

Asked by Seacrest if she had been driving erratically, Hilton replied, "No, I was just really hungry and I wanted to have an In-N-Out burger!"

The heiress was subsequently charged with two misdemeanors: DUI and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 or higher.

Her next court date is slated for Jan. 23.

"At this point, I expect the L.A. city attorney will eventually offer her a plea bargain to a lesser charge in which she'll do no jail time, no community service, and just pay a fine," Lawrence Taylor, an L.A.-based attorney and DUI expert, tells PEOPLE.