Santa Monica Police Dept.Talk about a buzz kill. On a day she was supposed to be partying it up in Vegas, instead Jaime Pressly was dispatching her lawyer to an L.A. courtroom.
The former My Name Is Earl star's attorney, Richard Hutton, entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of his client this morning to the DUI counts the actress was charged with earlier this week.
The counts—misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence, having a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher and having a blood-alcohol content of 0.20 or higher—stem from her Jan. 5 traffic stop and subsequent arrest in Santa Monica.
She was formally charged on Tuesday, which resulted in her calling off planned promotional appearances at a pair of Sin City clubs originally set for tonight.
Now, Pressly has a different date on her calendar: her next DUI hearing is set for March 18.The judge ruled that she had to appear at that hearing and, in the meantime, attend two AA meetings a week.
If convicted, she could face up to six months behind bars.
—Reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum