Judge extends restraining order against Britney's pal
Sam Lutfi, Britney Spears' frequent companion and sometime manager, was ordered Thursday by a federal judge to stay away from the struggling pop star until next month. U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez decided to extend a restraining order against Lutfi until March 17, when a hearing was scheduled on the matter. Jeffrey Wexler, an attorney for her father, James Spears, recently wrote in court papers that "after three weeks of apparently evading service," Lutfi was served outside his Los Angeles apartment. The order, which requires Lutfi to stay 250 yards away from Spears and her home, was set to expire Friday. Wexler had asked for the order to be extended. Spears' mother, Lynne, requested the temporary restraining order on February 7 against Lutfi. She claimed Lutfi drugged her and took control of her finances as well as holding her hostage in her own home. Attorneys for James Spears, who was named co-conservator of his daughter's estate, told a Superior Court commissioner that investigators spent more than 200 hours trying to locate Lutfi and serve him the restraining order. Spears and her estate, estimated to be worth $100 million, were placed under a temporary conservatorship after she was taken to UCLA Medical Center on January 31. Conservatorships are granted for people deemed unable to care for themselves or their affairs. Gutierrez's action was somewhat unusual because the case was being tried in Superior Court. However, a lawyer claiming to represent Spears filed papers on February 14 to move it to federal court, claiming the terms of the conservatorship violate her civil rights. Gutierrez ordered attorney Jon Eardley on Wednesday to clarify by February 29 why the pop star's conservatorship belongs in federal court. Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson said Gutierrez's decision to extend the restraining order appeared to be an attempt to "maintain the status quo" in the case until the jurisdictional issue is sorted out. |
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