Posting as it comes in.

 

It's that time again, waiting for #BritneyTrial to start. Today we have opening remarks from 3 defendants. Some nuggets from yesterday I did not share: Lutfi's lawyer said he has ADD & Dyslexia & has a prescription for Adderall. This med is key because Lynne Spears will say that Lutfi was trying to put Britney in a coma with this medication. Lutfi will say Lynne Spears introduced her daughter to this medication to lose weight after the MTV Movie Awards debacle. Lutfi's lawyer finished his closing remarks today telling jurors that Lynne Spears took back some of her claims in deposition. She said he didn't cut the phone lines and "maybe he was planning on putting drugs in her food to induce a coma" instead of he definitely did. Lutfi's lawyer said his client went through long periods of depression & insomnia because of the damage to his reputation as "the guy who drugged Britney."

Ok, now on to the opening remarks of Attorney Leon Gladstone who represents Jamie Spears, her father. He spent a long time talking about... the family's early life in Louisiana & how Britney was an excellent gymnast & they thought that's what she would do w her life. As he spoke of Britney's life as a little girl, her mother wept quietly. Her father is taking a ton of notes. The lawyer talked about Britney on Mickey Mouse club and the great romance between her and Justin Timberlake. According to the lawyer, the parents began to see big negative changes in Britney's life when she and JT broke up. She went from being a "ray of light, humble, cooperative, nice and not depressed" to being very depressed and very angry. He marks the beginning of the downward spiral when she got married in Vegas to her childhood pal. This is in 2004. Dad rents house in Huntington Beach & gets her to sober up and start working out & rehearsing. She goes on US leg of tour with her dad and does well. During a two week break between the US and European tour, dad goes back to Lousiana & Britney meets Federline. She no longer wants to go to Europe but Dad convinces her. She hurts her knee & has to cut it short but she gets to spend her time with Federline. They surprise everyone with a wedding at end of 2004 & her sons are both in Sept 2005 and Sept 2006. "This is a period of relative peace," says the lawyer who says she's basically living as a housewife. By Nov. 2006, the marriage is over. This is the beginning of the worst period of her life, in her parents' view. She begins abusing drugs and alcohol more, she's being photographed partying, no underwear, and her parents are getting more and more worried. FEB 2007: Britney shaves her head & her dad "does not view this as a fashion statement" and flies to LA to conduct an intervention. Dad convinces Britney to go to rehab in Antigua. She flies there, disembarks and gets on another plane and comes home. She agrees to go to Promises in Malibu. She goes for one day and checks out. At this point, Dad tells Federline that he's got to sue for custody of the kids. He does & the judge sides with him. Britney goes crazy hitting a paparazzi car w an umbrella. We saw that photograph yesterday but Gladstone shows it again and says "Ladies and gentlemen, that's Britney Spears in that photo. That is one of the biggest pop stars in the world." By far, that is the most somber moment of trial so far. Pic left up for a few seconds. Her father sees this photo & thinks his daughter has hit rock bottom "but it only gets much worse." She agrees to go 2 Promises for 30 days. Gladstone: "To Jamie, it's a life and death battle in a very real way. And Britney is at her most vulnerable. At the point she is the most vulnerable, Britney meets Mr.Lutfi." Court is resuming. More later. - Ok back to serious Britney Spears business. We are still on Leon Gladstone's opening. He represents father James Spears. Gladstone spent a lot of time going over Lutfi's past legal troubles & restraining orders (I have written about that). He also showed many articles that James Spears saw in the tabloids about his daughter all to show what his mental state was as a worried dad at the time. Jan. 3, 2008: was the sad night that Britney Spears had a meltdown when it was time for her sons to leave & locked herself in bathroom with one of them. The visit supervisor called the police & she wound up in the psychiatric ward under an involuntary three day hold. You knew all of that. What you didn't know is that when James Spears rushed to hospital to see Britney, she was strapped to a gurney, belligerent and "completely unhinged." He spent 3 days with her there, and she never ever went to sleep. B/c it was involuntary, she was sent home but she was not better at all, according to Gladstone. At this point, James Spears is living in constant fear that he will turn on TV and see his daughter has died. Now comes Jan. 28, 2008 and you #wallop trial fans will appreciate this. Was it a punch to the solar plexus or simply a touch? That's coming on that day, James Spears sees NY Post article titled "Jealous Rages of Britney Pal" and learns more about Lutfi's past. That was also the day of the Incident at the Gate (which you can view on youtube). Britney jumped out of car, didn't want to go inside, etc. That day. Dad gets 15 calls from different people telling him that they are seeing on TV that Britney & Lutfi are in a fight so he goes to the house. He does sneak in with Lynne Spears & his daughter is not there but Lutfi is in the kitchen. He yells at Lutfi "Leave my daughter alone and leave this family alone" and he "touches" Lutfi. He does not hit him, says Gladstone or mean to harm him. James Spears had already been investigating a conservatorship & now knew he had no choice but to try to get one. Before he is able to do that, on Jan. 31, Britney is again taken to the hospital on an involuntary hold and her dad applies for the conservatorship & a restraining order against Lutfi the next day. He gets them immediately.

 

Then we heard the opening remarks from Attorney Joel Boxer who represents Britney through the conservatorship. Mr Boxer was very effective in dispeling the notion that there was ever a HAPPY PERIOD in 2007 for Britney Spears. It was his opening, mind u, but in the period that began around Oct 2007 and Lutfi lawyer called the HAPPY PERIOD, the following happened: Britney lost custody of her sons, lost a beloved aunt, was in and out of rehab, was charged w hit and run, was subjected to twice a week random drug tests, she was being hounded by paparazzi, & she was fighting to get kids back. Oh Happy Days! Boxer also went through Lutfi's alleged entertainment industry work experience & says he will prove he's never been paid for any such work. Boxer also says Lutfi never even sent Britney or anyone on her side an email or text to demand payment for his services. End of Boxer opening: "Life got tougher, sadder and more distracting and stressful since Lutfi came into [britney's]life. What happened in bw is that Lufi tried to take advantage of a very vulnerable Britney Spears..."

 

Next we will hear from Lynne Spears' attorney. Lynne Spears' attorney Steve Rohde says she didn't rush to Britney's side during 1st hospitalization bc Jamie Lynn was pregnant and she stayed home with her. It was one of the "hardest choices" she ever had to make. Lutfi was crying when he called her. Lawyer is reading Lynne Spears' declaration from 1/31/2008. This was basis for her book too--where she claims that Lutfi cut phone lines, disabled cars, medicated Britney, etc. Lynne Spears' lawyer says Lutfi "weasled his way into Britney's life" bc he was starving for fame and he was after her fortune. He wanted 15% of her $800,000 a month income which is about $120,000 a month for him. BTW: Lutfi's lawyer said today she actually made between $875,000-$1 million in 2007. Rohde is here to defend Lynne Spears on libel and defamation for 3 chapters in her book about Lutfi. Rohde says Lutfi's reputation was already damaged when her book came out, that the press had already revealed the restraining orders against him etc. Ok, that's it for opening statements everyone. Trial resumes Monday with Lutfi's case presentation. Happy weekend everyone! Attention! That was Britney's MONTHLY salary in 2007. Not yearly. We went over that yesterday but just want to be sure.

 

More details on Monday.

Sad to have to re think about all the things that went on behind closed doors. I feel her parents went over the top when it comes to the things Sam Lufti did to her, but at the same time... I think it was all done to get her out of a very septic enviroment.

 

If it was my daughter I would be just as protective about it, if not more. A lot of fans are anti conservatorship, but if it weren't for her parents she would probably be dead today. I think a lot of fans also don't know how much trauma went on for her in 2007, and do not understand mental disorders at all. I am team conservatorship 100%.

I am team conservatorship 100% too. Reading this reminds me of late 2007/early 2008, when I used to check news about her 24/7 and hoped she wouldn't die :(

 

To think she was very near to death and that the Associated Press prepared an obituary for her back in the day makes me realise how lucky she was and how spot on the conservatorship is.

The biggest WTF moment is "What were they doing from February 2007-Jan 2008?". It just skips an entire 11 months there.

Edited October 21, 201212 yr by dannjohn3