Posted on 12/12/2002 2:42:09 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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| Thu Dec 12, 1:08 PM ET |
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Actor Nick Nolte (news) arrives at the Malibu Courthouse Thursday, Dec. 12, 2002 in Malibu, Calif. Nolte pleaded no contest Thursday to one count of driving under the influence of drugs and he was immediately sentenced to three years of probation, which includes counseling and drug testing. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) |
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MALIBU, Calif. (Reuters) - Actor Nick Nolte (news) pleaded no contest on Thursday to driving under the influence of a drug he claims to have consumed in a bodybuilding supplement and was placed on probation with orders to remain in drug counseling for several months.
Under the plea agreement accepted by Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira, prosecutors dropped a second misdemeanor drug count stemming from Nolte's Sept. 11 arrest, when he was pulled over by police in the Southern California seaside enclave of Malibu, dazed and drooling, behind the wheel of his car.
Drug tests later identified the substance in his system as the banned "date rape" drug GHB, and he was charged with driving under the influence of that drug.
But Nolte's lawyer, Mark Werksman, said the 61-year-old actor had unwittingly consumed the drug as part of a "weight-lifting concoction."
"He was coming home from an appointment, and he had inadvertently consumed this substance earlier that day, and it made him very disoriented, and he was pulled over," Werksman told Reuters. "He mixes a concoction every morning, and he tried this drink, and ... several hours later rendered him virtually unconscious on the road."
Under terms of his three-year probation, the two-time Oscar nominee was ordered to submit to random drug testing and spend at least three more months in an out-patient rehabilitation and counseling program he started in October.
THREAT OF JAIL
In addition, he was given six months to attend a 12 weekly drunken-driving education sessions in order to regain his driver's license. Nolte also was ordered to pay fines and other penalties totaling nearly $1,200, Werksman said.
Failure to meet the terms of his probation could land Nolte behind bars for up to six months, and Mira warned the actor, "If you violate (your probation) you're very likely to go to jail, do you understand that?"
Nolte, wearing a charcoal suit and sporting a gray beard, responded, "Yes sir." The judge then wished him good luck. Nolte is due back in court on June 12 for a progress report.
After the proceedings, Nolte and his attorney pushed past a throng of cameras and reporters. Asked what he had to say to his fans, he muttered: "Don't drink and drive," then stepped into a waiting car and was driven away.
Nolte, described by highway police as "drooling" and "completely out of it," was pulled over for driving erratically and failed a field sobriety test. He was later booked and photographed looking bleary-eyed and disheveled.
Werksman said the GHB, which has gained popularity as a recreational drug sometimes referred to as "liquid ecstasy," turned up in one of numerous supplements the actor has tried. "He orders these concoctions, he gets them from infomercials and other people who are interested in weight-lifting."
"I think he did the right thing by confronting this and resolving it quickly and taking steps to make sure it doesn't happen again," the lawyer said. "He's a very healthy guy except for this 30-year struggle he's had with dependency."
The versatile Nebraska-born actor sprang to stardom in the 1976 TV mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man." He earned Oscar nominations for his 1991 role opposite Barbra Streisand (news) in "The Prince of Tides" and for playing a hard-drinking sheriff on the brink of mental collapse in the 1997 drama "Affliction."
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