People: Egg throwing leads to misdemeanor for Bieber
Justin Bieber must pay $80,900 in damages and serve two years on probation after pleading no contest Wednesday to a misdemeanor vandalism charge for throwing eggs at a neighbor’s home in Van Nuys, California.
Bieber also was ordered to complete five days of community labor and a 12-week anger-management program, and stay away from the victim and his family for two years.
The 20-year-old Grammy-nominated singer was not present for the arraignment at Superior Court in Van Nuys. Bieber’s lawyer, Shawn Holley, entered the plea on his behalf.
A spokeswoman for Bieber said he’s glad to have the matter resolved and behind him. She added that he will move forward and focus on his career and music.
Prosecutors spent months deciding whether to file charges after the January incident. They considered felony charges because the damage was said to be more than $400, the threshold for a felony.
Deputy District Attorney Alan Yochelson said Wednesday he was satisfied with the misdemeanor charge and called egg throwing an “extremely immature and a silly act.”
The singer’s Calabasas mansion was searched Jan. 14 and detectives later filed a search warrant to obtain images from Bieber’s Instagram account to match them to surveillance footage taken from his home. A detective wrote that a person matching Bieber’s description was seen high-fiving his friends after running toward a neighbor’s home, but footage of the egg attack was not captured.
Wayne family, Duke University duel
John Wayne’s heirs are taking Duke University to court to assert the family’s right to market bottles of bourbon branded with the late movie star’s nickname, Duke.
A federal lawsuit filed last week is the latest salvo in a long-running legal duel between the North Carolina university and California-based John Wayne Enterprises over commercial products featuring the name. The late actor used the moniker since childhood, when he adopted the name of the family dog.
Lawyers for the university say allowing the Wayne estate to use the name could cause confusion and “diminish, dilute and tarnish” the value of the name.
The bourbon is labeled with an image of Wayne holding a rifle with “Duke” emblazoned over it in bold letters. The phrase “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do” is included on the back of the bottle.
The birthday bunch
Former boxer Jake LaMotta is 93. Former New York City Mayor David Dinkins is 87. Actor Robert Pine is 73. Actor Ron Glass is 69. Folk singer Arlo Guthrie is 67. Rockabilly singer Imelda May is 40. Actor Adrian Grenier is 38. Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas is 34. Singer-actress Jessica Simpson is 34. Actress Heather Hemmens is 30.