Britney Spears Hands Over Children After Dispute At Her Home
Six police cars surround home; Spears leaves in ambulance
LOS ANGELES – Attorneys for Britney Spears and Kevin Federline were in
court Friday for a closed-door meeting in the former couple’s child
custody battle after the pop star was hospitalized in a bizarre
incident that brought police and paramedics to her home.
Tara Scott, representing Spears, and Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent
Kaplan, spent about 30 minutes in chambers with court Commissioner
Scott Gordon, who has been handling the custody case. They made no
comments to reporters afterward.
A court hearing was scheduled later Friday.
Kaplan said through his publicist, Michael Sands, that it would be
"inappropriate for him to speak to the media … because of what’s
happened last night, because of the serious nature of what we’ve all
read about."
Sands said Kaplan had been at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after Spears
was admitted Thursday, but he declined to provide any details about the
26-year-old pop star, Federline or their two young sons.
"Just say prayers," Spears’ mother, Lynne Spears, told celebrity news show "Access Hollywood" by phone Friday.
Spears was taken from her home on a gurney late Thursday after police
were summoned because she wouldn’t turn over her sons to Federline.
With paparazzi swarming the ambulance doors, Spears was whisked away,
nearly three hours after police first arrived at her home in a gated
community.
"For her own welfare, she was transferred to a local hospital for
medical treatment," Officer April Harding said, declining to elaborate.
No injuries were reported.
Police initially said it appeared that Spears was under the influence
of an unknown substance but Harding said Friday she could not confirm
that or other reports that Spears was hospitalized for mental
evaluation.
Spears was conscious as the ambulance left her home escorted by a row
of police cars. A horde of paparazzi chased the ambulance, their
strobes going off as they held their cameras up to the vehicle’s rear
window.
Another group of videographers met the ambulance at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, banging on the ambulance doors.
Cedars spokeswoman Simi Singer said she could neither confirm nor deny
that Spears was at the hospital, citing patient confidentiality laws.
Officers were called to Spears’ house around 8 p.m. Thursday for an
issue involving the custody of her sons, 2-year-old Sean Preston and
1-year-old Jayden James, Harding said.
By about 10:30 p.m., six police cars, two ambulances and a firetruck
had entered the gated community, where Spears has a $4.5 million,
five-bedroom, six-bathroom home in the Santa Monica Mountains above
Beverly Hills.
Several police cars were seen in the area earlier in the night.
Spears turned over the children around 10:50 p.m., Officer Jason Lee said.
Spears and Federline have been involved in a long and very public
custody battle. Federline has temporary custody of the children because
Spears, who has limited visitation rights, has defied court orders. The
two were married in October 2004 and divorced in July.
Spears’ life has spiraled downward during the past year. She has been
photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and
out-of-control in public. She shaved her head, beat a car with an
umbrella, spent a month in rehab and has had a handful of fender
benders, including one in which she ran over a photographer’s foot.
Earlier Thursday, Spears appeared for a deposition in her custody
dispute. Spears was questioned for just 14 minutes, Kaplan told
reporters after Spears left.
Spears called in sick for a Dec. 12 court-ordered deposition, but was
photographed that day driving with a friend. She also didn’t show up
for a session Wednesday, Kaplan said.
Spears’ attorneys from the firm Trope and Trope on Wednesday filed a
court motion asking to be relieved due to a "breakdown" in
communication with their client.
Kaplan said Spears’ attorneys were present for what became a very
abbreviated session, which had been scheduled to last two hours.
"You can imagine in 14 minutes there’s not a lot of time to develop questions," he said.
Kaplan said another deposition would be scheduled.
