INFphoto.comWe're guessing this wasn't the kind of Circus Britney Spears was thinking of while plotting her vaunted comeback.
A Los Angeles judge today set an Oct. 15 trial date for Spears for driving with an invalid license.
But there's a chance that trial may yet be averted, with one last preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 8 for prosecutors and the pop tart's lawyers to reach a compromise in the case.
Spears' attorney Michael Flanagan tells E! News that the judge has pushed the proceedings to next month to allow more time for all sides to consider their options: go to trial, cut a deal or reduce the misdemeanor charge to a vehicular infraction—the last of which Flanagan has always considered a no-brainer.
"Ninety percent of my experience in court [with this charge] is, once you get the license corrected, they dismiss the case," Flanagan said. "If you don’t, it’s a $321 fine. Neither option has been given to Britney.”
"This girl has come a long way in the last year, she’s a solid citizen," he added. "Let’s treat her as normal."
In the latest development in Spears' never-ending legal saga stemming from last year's minor fender bender, the 26-year-old singer's lawyers met in chambers this morning with Superior Court Judge James A. Steele and Los Angeles city prosecutors.
Afterward, L.A. city prosecutor Michael Amerian told E! News that both sides hope to reach a plea deal to avoid the spectacle of a full-blown trial.
"We're just look for a fair resolution to this. If that means going to trial, it means going to trial," he said.
The "Oops" songbird was rung up in August 2007 after a hit-and-split incident in which she dinged another vehicle while fleeing from paparazzi.
A follow-up investigation revealed that she was carrying a Louisiana license but not a California one, a no-no under state law. Authorities subsequently charged her with a misdemeanor count of driving without a vaild license.
Team Spears had hoped to persuade Steele to dismiss the charge, claiming prosecutors were unfairly targeting Spears because of her celebrity, but he rejected the motion earlier this month, paving the way for the hitmaker to stand trial.
Suggesting that a trial would be "a waste of taxpayers' money," Flanagan said that a trial would likely only result in a small fine for Spears, if she's found guilty. It's the possibility of probation that really gets him, however.
“There would maybe be a 12-month probation, so if she does something they don’t like they can call her in, just like they did to Paris," he said. “She appears to be normal, let’s treat her normal."
In happier news, Spears is expected to drop her sixth studio album, Circus, on Dec. 2, which also happens to be her 27th birthday. The first single, "Womanizer," goes out to radio stations next Tuesday.
—Additional reporting by Matt Donnelly
(Originally published Sept. 18, 2008 at 12:52 p.m. PT.)