Woman entered no contest plea
Tina Vlijter, the woman suing over her inebriated jailhouse appearance on the truTV reality series "Inside American Jail," ended up pleading no contest to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge stemming from her July 2008 arrest.
Vlijter, 32, entered her plea in Las Vegas Justice Court on Feb. 26, 2009, and was fined $580 and sentenced to 48 hours of community service, according to the district attorney's office. A gross misdemeanor charge of child endangerment was dismissed as part of her plea agreement.
In her arrest report, officers said they found Vlijter asleep at the wheel of a Mercedes Benz, which was stopped at a busy local intersection, with her 2-year-old daughter in the back seat. At the time, the car's engine was running and in the drive mode and Vlijter's foot was on the brake, the report said.
Vlijter sued in District Court earlier this month against truTV; its parent company, Turner Broadcasting Systems; and the producers of the reality show, Langley Productions, over the way the series portrayed her at the Clark Detention Center after her arrest.
Vlijter acknowledged in the suit that she was "extremely intoxicated" at the detention center, but she also alleged that the cable television program unfairly made her appear as though she wasn't taking her arrest seriously. She was shown laughing and flirting with jail officials.
On Monday, her lawyer, Easton Harris, said the incident came at a bad time in Vlijter's life, and she did not deserve the public ridicule that resulted from her appearance on the reality show.
"She's paid her debt to society, and this show is tantamount to a 'scarlet letter,' " Harris said.
Her appearance became a hit on YouTube, which featured a short video of her known as "Hot Blond Tina in Jail."
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@review
journal.com or 702-380-8135 or read more courts coverage at lvlegalnews.com.
