BY the way, speaking of Lizzie,
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — Celebrity publicist Lizzie Grubman did not appear in court Friday but her lawyers did, meeting with prosecutors and a newly-assigned judge behind closed doors.
None of the lawyers would say what was discussed in the 33-minute conference in the case against Grubman, who is accused of being drunk when she backed an SUV into a crowd of 16 people outside a nightclub in Southampton last summer.
Judge Michael Mullen continued the case for one week and sent Grubman's lawyers and a prosecutor away with instructions not to discuss what went on during their meeting in chambers.
Mullen may have been trying to avoid a repeat of what happened when Grubman last appeared in court: a spontaneous, tearful public apology to the 16 people who received injuries in the crash outside the Conscience Point Inn on July 7, 2001.
Special prosecutor Joy Watson — who recently has said she is prepared to try Grubman on charges that include assault, drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident — declined Friday to say whether Mullen fashioned a plea agreement for Grubman's consideration during the conference.
According to published reports, Watson wanted Judge John Mullin — who got off the case because he is retiring — to decide what punishment Grubman deserves if she pleads guilty to any of the charges to avoid a trial.
"We had a conference and it was adjourned until next Friday. That's as much as I can say," Watson said as she left the courtroom.
Grubman's lawyers, Edward Burke Jr. and Stephen Scaring, also brushed off questions about the meeting with the judge. Burke, however, said before the session that the defense intended to ask Mullen to act on long-pending motions for dismissal and to suppress statements Grubman allegedly made to police.
Grubman was not required to appear in court Friday, the first time Mullen met with the defense and prosecution about the case. And unlike Grubman's circus-like appearance July 16, only a few reporters and just one camera crew showed up this time.
So what did happen in chambers?
The silence by the prosecutor and defense lawyers and the relatively short continuance of the case for one week could be indicators that Mullen forced Watson to put her last, best offer on the table and is giving Grubman one week to accept it or go to trial.
"She is expected to be here next Friday," Watson said.
Grubman, 31, is being sued by many of the 16 people injured in the crash. According to the lawsuits, Grubman backed her father's $70,000 Mercedes SUV into a crowd of people waiting to get into the nightclub just moments after a bouncer asked her to move the vehicle from a fire lane.