Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) in Episode 601 of 24.
© Fox
Kiefer Gets 48, Rodriguez Gets 6 Months
By: Jarrod Sarafin, News EditorDate: Tuesday, October 16, 2007
It's been a while since I did a Superficial update here but in the past week, two stars have been sentenced or took plea deals for jail time, time which could have affected their genre related projects. Both cases are on the opposite end of the spectrum. One features a former Hollywood party animal who has clearly calmed down over the years but recently made a poor case of judgement. The other side features a party animal who hasn't stopped even after numerous recent incursions with the law, including a bit where she drank while wearing an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet..
In the cast of Kiefer Sutherland, he's actually going to be spending more time in jail because he doesn't want to shut down production for Imagine TV and the cast of 24, causing a lot of people to lose paychecks. He could have made a plea deal for less time but since he's asking for two seperate jail dates, he has to serve all 48 days for his September 26 DUI. The reason he's getting any time at all is because he has been on probation since 2004. He will be serving 18 days beginning on December 21 (during the holiday break of production) and another 30 day sentence to be completed by July 1, 2008.
"I'm very disappointed in myself for the poor judgment I exhibited recently, and I'm deeply sorry for the disappointment and distress this has caused my family, friends and coworkers on 24 and at 20th Century Fox," Sutherland said in a statement.
As far as what his co-workers think about him volunteering to serve more time so he wouldn't disrupt their lives also, here's a statement.
"Today our friend Kiefer Sutherland resolved his criminal case at the earliest opportunity," 20th Century Fox and Fox Broadcasting said in a joint statement. "Kiefer made clear to us at the time of his arrest that his first concern was the welfare of those he worked with and that he intended to do whatever was necessary to prevent shutting down the show because of his situation.
"He told us that even if he had to sacrifice more time in custody in order to protect the show and the jobs of those who work with him, he would do so. From what occurred today, it is evident he is a man of his word. We wish him well and look forward to a long relationship with him."
The same can't be said for Michelle Rodriguez, the actress currently set to star in James Cameron's AVATAR 3-D. She will still film her scenes for Cameron's film but it will be cutting it close to the wire should Cameron need to call for her again in production after Christmas Eve. Rodriguez, who had been required to complete 30 hours of community service due to a previous arrest, copped in court to never finishing her court-ordered duty, as well as drinking alcohol on three occasions while wearing an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet.
The thespian has until 5 p.m. on Dec. 24 to surrender, after which she's required to spend the entire 180-day term locked up, having been deemed ineligible for either work furloughs or house arrest.
This time around, there will be no breaks this time for Rodriguez, who in May 2006 spent only four hours and 20 minutes in custody due to jail overcrowding, despite having been sentenced to two months behind bars, also for probation violation. Rodriguez's L.A.-based probation was revoked last year after she racked up several speeding citations in Hawaii, where she was working on LOST at the time, and then was busted for driving under the influence in December 2005.
