Jumat, 04 Januari 2008

"No Winners," as Court Strips Spears Custody (E! Online)

Los Angeles (E! Online) - With Britney Spears locked down in a hospital following her bizarre late-night standoff, a Los Angeles court commissioner has granted Kevin Federline sole custody of the ex-couples two young sons.

Im not happy about any of these events, said K-Fed lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan upon exiting the courthouse following the brief closed-door afternoon session.

There are no winners here.

Spears remains on a minimum 72-hour hold at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center while undergoing psychological and physical testing. The Friday court ruling means that even if she gets out as scheduled on Sunday, she wont have any contact with sons Sean Preston or Jayden James at least until Jan. 14, when Court Commissioner Scott Gordon has scheduled the next custody hearing.

Kaplan called for Fridays emergency session following Spears meltdown. He and Spears attorney Tara Scott initially met with Gordon for 20 minutes in the morning and returned at 1:30 p.m. to continue proceedings.

At the request of another Spears attorney, Anne Kiley, Gordon agreed to close the afternoon session and cleared the courtroom at 1:50. It took just a half-hour before Gordon to reach his decision.

[Federline] is awarded sole legal custody and sole physical custody of the minor children, Gordon ruled. [Spears] visitation with minor children is suspended pending further order of the court.

Although Kaplan earlier said Federline may testify if its absolutely necessary, he did not appear in court.

There was no further comment from either side following the ruling.

The 29-year-old Federline already had primary physical custody of Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, with Spears allowed a handful of visits with the boys during the week, under the watchful eye of a court-appointed monitor.

Spears joint custody of the boys was first downgraded last October after she failed to comply with Gordons orders, which included a series of random drug tests.

Late Thursday, Spears refused to return the boys to Federlines bodyguards, locking herself in a room with her youngest son. Police were called to the scene and, although she was judged at the time to be under the influence of an unknown substance, authorities said Friday that there was no evidence of that.

There was no actual crime that was involved and Spears has not been arrested, LAPD spokeswoman Officer Ana Aguirre said, adding that no threat was posed to Sean or Jayden at the house.

The singer was detained by police and then transported via ambulance to Cedars-Sinai. She remains under a 5150 hold, which, per the medical code, is enforced when any person, as a result of mental disorder, is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled.

A source close to Spears tells E! Online senior editor Marc Malkin that the family fears she is suffering from bipolar disoder and has not been following doctors orders.

This was going on before the head shaving, the souce said. She wouldnt listen to anyone. She said she knew what she was doing. She needs major help. Lets hope she will finally get it.

Although the singer has already received visits from father Jamie Spears and pal Sam Lutfi, her mother, Lynne Spears, is the only inner-circle member to have spoken publicly since the incident transpired.

In a teary phone call to Access Hollywood, Lynne simply implored, Just say prayers.

Both Kiley and Scott are attorneys with the firm of Trope & Trope, which on Wednesday filed court documents seeking to be released as the singers counsel, citing a breakdown in communication.

There was no indication Friday how much longer the firm would represent Spears.