Spears Pays for Wreck, Avoids Hit-Run Charge

Oct 26, 04:52 AM

Current Headlines: By Linda Deutsch

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hit and run then pay as you go.

Britney Spears is no longer facing hit-and-run charges since she paid off the other car's driver in the fender-bender, but she still has to deal with one count of driving without a license, a court commissioner ruled Thursday.

Spears was not required to attend the hearing on the misdemeanor charges stemming from an Aug. 6 parking lot mishap.

Superior Court Commissioner Susan Speer dismissed the hit-and- run charge after a lawyer for the pop star said his client had paid an undisclosed amount to a woman whose car was hit in a Studio City parking lot.

A charge of driving without a license was not dismissed and a pretrial hearing was scheduled for Nov. 26. The commissioner accepted a not-guilty plea entered on Spears' behalf by lawyer Michael Flanagan to that charge.

Outside court, Flanagan said Assistant City Attorney Michael Amerian had offered Spears a plea deal involving the license charge that would have resulted in her being placed on probation for a year.

Flanagan said he believed a plea was unnecessary because Spears had rectified the situation by recently getting a California driver's license.

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