A subdued Courtney Love, clutching a copy of Bob Dylan’s autobiography, was sentenced Friday to 180 days in jail for violating her probation, but will serve her time in a live-in drug treatment center.
The troubled rocker has been living at a lock-down substance abuse facility since admitting in August she had used drugs, a violation of her probation. A Los Angeles judge said she would be spared jail time because of the headway she made in rehabilitation.
“I’m very pleased with your progress. I think this is an excellent first step on the road to recovery,” Superior Court Judge Rand Rubin told Love after studying a report on her treatment.
The 41-year-old singer, who came to court carrying Dylan’s book “Chronicles” and wearing dark sunglasses, will not be allowed to leave the clinic except for emergencies and would be subject to random drug tests. Rubin ordered her back to court on Nov. 18 and extended her probation, which stems from drug and assault convictions, until March 2007.
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“Thank you very much, your honor,” Love said quietly, before leaving court with an eight-person entourage. A man who was with Love, the former singer for rock group Hole, barred journalists from riding in a courthouse elevator with her and shoved a reporter who tried.
Love’s 13-year-old daughter with late rock star Curt Cobain, Frances Bean, was not in court. Love’s attorney, Howard Weitzman, said the girl was “being taken care of.” Weitzman declined to say who was caring for the girl and the matter was not discussed in court.
“She wants to see her mom complete her treatment and come home,” Weitzman said of the girl. Cobain, lead singer of the popular rock band Nirvana, killed himself in 1994.
Love was sued Friday by a woman whom prosecutors say she attacked at the home of her ex-boyfriend in April. Love pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge in that case, and is serving probation in part for that conviction.
Musician Kristin King claims in her Superior Court civil lawsuit that Love slapped her, hit her with a whiskey bottle and a large lit candle and pinched her breast. King, who attended Love’s court hearing, seeks unspecified damages for assault, battery, false imprisonment and other claims.