Paris Hilton: 'Cocaine-Filled Purse Wasn't Mine'

LAS VEGAS -- A lawyer for Paris Hilton is reportedly expected to argue that police performed an illegal search when the celebutante was arrested on felony cocaine possession charges.

Hilton, 29, and her 34-year-old boyfriend Cy Waits were arrested Friday in Las Vegas.

According to RadarOnline, the ordeal was captured on surveillance video, which sources say could help Hilton.

Her lawyer, David Chesnoff, plans to claim the search was illegal because she was taken away from the scene to another location, the site reported.

Hilton also repeatedly claimed the purse wasn't hers during the arrest, according to a police report.

Authorities are defending their actions.

Hilton was treated "like everyone else," Deputy Chief Jim Dixon told the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Dixon said that the actress was not placed with other inmates at the county jail in order to avoid a disruption. "We're under obligation to make sure that everybody is kept safe."

Police say they saw what appeared to be a cloud of marijuana smoke coming out of the windows of a black Cadillac Escalade being driven by Waits around 11:30 p.m. Friday.

A motorcycle officer stopped the SUV on Las Vegas Boulevard near the Wynn Las Vegas resort.

The officer "followed the vapor trail and the odor of marijuana to the Escalade," police Sgt. John Sheahan said.

A crowd quickly gathered in the area, and Hilton was taken into the Wynn hotel to "keep her safe" during the initial investigation, according to Officer Marcus Martin.

According to Sheahan, Hilton pulled a tube of lip balm out of her purse, and with it fell a bindle of cocaine in a plastic bag right into plain view of officers.

Both Hilton and Waits were booked at the Clark County Jail.

Hilton was released early Saturday morning, according to Watch Commander Lt. Wayne Holman.

She was on Twitter shortly after her release.

Hilton tweeted: "In bed watching Family Guy. Love this show.! So hilarious! Stewie is my favorite :) love his accent." She followed that with", Going to bed. Sweet dreams everyone. Xoxo Paris :)"

She later followed up with another tweet: "I'm so thankful to all my fans for all the love and support you are giving me. Thank you all. Love you so much. Love Paris."

Waits posted $2,000 bail and was expected to be released Saturday.


He's facing misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to his attorney Richard Schonfeld.

Schonfeld said he was "troubled by the circumstances" leading to the arrest, but declined to elaborate.

"I am gathering facts, but I caution people not to rush to judgment," Chesnoff, told The Associated Press Saturday morning.

Court dates for Hilton and Waits were not immediately available.

Neither Hilton's manager nor her publicist have commented.

If convicted of a low-grade felony, Hilton would receive probation. Any violation of that probation would be punishable by one to four years in jail.


The arrest came just days after a knife-wielding man tried to break into Hilton's Sherman Oaks home.

Nathan Lee Parada, 31, is facing felony burglary charges in the Tuesday incident.

Hilton was arrested this summer after the Brazil-Netherlands World Cup match in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on suspicion of possession of marijuana. The case was then dropped at a midnight court hearing.

She pleaded no contest in 2007 to alcohol-related reckless driving and was sentenced to 45 days in jail. She served just 23 of those days.

Hilton is most famous for her tabloid exploits and reality TV series "The Simple Life." She has appeared in the films "Bottoms Up," "The Hottie & the Nottie" and "House of Wax."

Waits and his twin brother, Jesse, are managing partners of the Tryst Nightclub inside Wynn Las Vegas, Drai's after hours club at Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon, and XS The Nightclub at Wynn's Encore resort.

Randy Couture Biography

Randy Duane Couture was born June 22, 1963, in Everett, Washington. A phenomenal athlete with an enormous physique, he captured a state wrestling championship during his senior year of high school before spending the next six years of his life in the U.S. Army. Upon being discharged, Randy Couture enrolled at Oklahoma State University where he became a three-time All-American. His remarkable collegiate career caught the attention of USA Wrestling, and he was named an Olympic team alternate in 1988, 1992 and 1996.
randy couture makes his ufc debut
Although Randy Couture never had the opportunity to participate in the Olympics, his enthusiasm for wrestling remained strong, and he decided to turn pro by joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 1997. His first mixed martial arts match came later that year on May 30th, when he defeated heavily favored Brazilian fighter Vitor Belfort as part of UFC 13. “He was the phenom that was tearing everybody up, and nobody really gave me much of a chance at beating him,” Randy Couture recalls. “I managed to come out of that fight victoriously, and kind of shocked everybody, and that kind of set the stage and tone for the rest of my career.”
randy couture joins rings
Randy Couture won his first heavyweight title several months later in a bloody match against Maurice Smith. Unfortunately, he didn’t keep the belt for long due to a contractual dispute with UFC that prevented him from making a proper title defense. The disagreement left Randy Couture with a bad taste in his mouth, and he briefly left UFC to join the Japanese-based RINGS organization.
randy couture returns to ufc
Randy Couture finally returned to UFC in 2000, and he wasted little time making his presence felt by recapturing the heavyweight title on November 17th in a memorable fight with Kevin Randleman. Randy Couture successfully defended his title twice more before relinquishing his belt in an epic match against Josh Barnett at UFC 36 in 2002.

Randy Couture’s loss convinced him to go down to UFC’s light heavyweight class, where he thought he would achieve more success. “The guys were just getting too big in the heavyweight division,” he explains. “And they [weren’t] just big guys like the first guys I fought, they knew how to fight and weight [became] a huge advantage.” Randy Couture’s hunch paid off, and he immediately beat Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell to capture the interim light heavyweight championship. He won the title outright later that year when he downed five-time champion Tito Ortiz in an unforgettable match.
randy couture and chuck liddell get their fight on
Randy Couture faced Chuck Liddell again on April 16, 2005, but this time around “The Iceman” had the last laugh as he handed Randy Couture the first knockout loss of his career. The pair faced off again for a heavily hyped match on February 4, 2006, with Chuck Liddell coming out on top again. “I was prepared, as prepared as I've ever been, but he just caught me,” he says. “Chuck's a great champion and it was an honor for me to fight him.”
randy couture retires
Randy Couture retired shortly after his final match with Chuck Liddell, and he spent the next two years working as an MMA commentator and making a seamless transition into acting with roles in Invincible (2006) starring Mark Wahlberg, The Unit (2007) featuring Dennis Haybert and Big Stan with Rob Schneider. He was also inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame during a moving ceremony on June 24, 2006.
randy couture comes out of retirement
Although Randy Couture had plenty of projects to keep himself busy, he missed the physicality of fighting and eventually returned to the Octagon on March 3, 2007, fighting Tim Sylvia at UFC 68. Despite being 43 years old at the time, Randy Couture controlled the pace of the fight from the opening bell, and he easily defeated his opponent to become the UFC’s first three-time champion. He successfully defended his belt several months later on August 25, 2007, by downing Gabriel Gonzaga.
randy couture resigns
Just as it appeared his career was back in high gear, Randy Couture surprised many observers by sending a letter of resignation to the UFC on October 11, 2007. "The motivation for the decision is two-fold," he explained at the time. "I know Fedor (Emelianenko) just signed with another organization and that's the only real fight that makes sense for me at 44 years old as the heavyweight champion of the UFC. … And, two, I'm tired of being taken advantage of, played as the nice guy and basically swimming against the current with the management of the UFC. I have a lot of other things going on in my life that I'm doing just fine with. I don't need the problems.”
randy couture returns to the ufc
Despite his hasty exit, Randy Couture remained in close contact with the UFC, and on September 2, 2008, the organization announced that he had signed a three-fight deal to return to the Octagon. His first fight will be against former WWE champion Brock Lesnar on November 15, 2008, at UFC 91.

Glenn Beck Rally Attendance Another Controversial Topic

Glenn Beck's rally attendance is yet another controversy tied to the TV personality. Glenn Beck's "non-political" rally, held at the National Mall, garnered a lot of controversy from the get-go.


First, some civil rights leaders question Beck's motives for choosing the very same date and venue as the MLK "I have a dream" speech.


CBS news reported yesterday that the attendance at the rally was 87,000. That is the figure that we reported, as it came from a credible agency.


However, through several comments and several other blog posts on line it became apparent that there could be some disconnect in the true attendance at the "restoring honor" rally.


The Restoring Honor rally attendance could have really reached into the hundreds of thousands. Given the photos of the event, news coverage, and more - that estimate sounds a lot more palatable.


To put things in perspective, 87,000 people is about the same as a crowd for an Ohio State football game. It's a lot of people, but hardly the crowd viewed at the nation's capital yesterday.


So what do you think? Do you think CBS's estimate of 87,000 was accurate, or do you think Glenn Beck's rally attendance was well over

New York State Fair