Courtney Love: she's doing just fine, thanks!

[MarcO]

http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,14406,00.html

Courtney Love Runs Late

by Lia Haberman

Jun 29, 2004, 8:30 AM PT

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Maybe Courtney Love should invest in a watch.

The erratic rocker showed up five hours late to a New York court hearing Monday, which earned her an earful from the judge.

New York Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson warned Love her tardiness was grounds for an arrest warrant.

"I want to make it clear to you that you are supposed to be in court at 9:30, not 3 o'clock," Jackson said. "Three o'clock is not acceptable. The rule applies to you, the same as it does to everyone else."

According to eyewitness accounts, a dazed-looking Love muttered an apology to the judge. Her lawyer later told reporters Love wasn't initially aware she had to appear in court.

The former Hole frontwoman faces charges of assault and reckless endangerment over a March incident in an East Village nightclub when she clocked a fan with her microphone stand.

Love's pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to a year in jail.

While not scoring any points for punctuality, Love proved quite sociable before the hearing when she offered cigarettes to two other defendants. They declined.

She was later told to pipe down when she struck up a conversation with another defendant handcuffed to a bench as her lawyer, Scott Tulman, and prosecutor David Filer met at the bench with the judge to set up a schedule of court motions.

Following the 15-minute hearing, Love told reporters, "I feel great, except for this nonsense."

The sentiment could be a tad optimistic considering Love's been forced to postpone her summer tour in support of her recent album, America's Sweetheart, in order to deal with a growing list of charges against her.

Earlier this month, she turned herself in to police to face an assault with a deadly weapon charge for allegedly taking a swing at a woman with a liquor bottle and a flashlight on April 25 at an ex-boyfriend's house in Los Angeles.

She's due in court on the felony flashlight charge July 9.

On July 15, Love is to appear in Beverly Hills for a pretrial hearing on two felony counts of illegal drug possession. Love has pleaded not guilty to having a stash of prescription painkillers at her home, minus the prescriptions. That arrest came after Love reportedly OD'd on OxyContin following an October meltdown at her ex Jim Barber's house.

And on July 16, Love is due to be sentenced in Los Angeles for smashing Barber's windows last Oct. 2 while under the influence of cocaine. She has pleaded guilty to that misdemeanor charge. A second misdemeanor charge, related to disorderly conduct (i.e., the broken windows), is expected to be dropped.

Meanwhile, she's due back in Manhattan Criminal Court Sept. 7 on the mike-tossing charges, suggesting that, more than a trusty timepiece, what Love needs is a good date book.