Jury Deliberates in Britney Spears License Case

At issue is Spears’ residency in either California or Louisiana

The jury in the case involving entertainer Britney Spears allegedly driving without a valid license began to deliberate Friday night, and the determination of her guilt or innocence will depend on which state she’s considered a resident of—California or Louisiana.

If her peers decide Louisiana, Spears’ childhood home, she will be off the hook. If they decide California, she will be in violation of a law requiring new residents to get a California driver’s license within 10 days and face possible, though unlikely, jail time of up to six months and a fine as large as $1,000.

Spears held a current Louisiana driver’s license on Aug. 6, 2007, when she hit a parked car, and her defense team has argued that since she pays income tax to that state, owns property there and is registered to vote there, she should not legally be considered a California resident.
The prosecution claimed that since Spears has lived fulltime in the Los Angeles area for several years and allegedly began, but did not complete, an application for a California driver’s license, she was actually a California resident, making her Louisiana license void.

The trial spanned only two days before jury deliberations began, including Friday, when Spears’ father, Jamie, testified. He is currently the co-conservator of Spears’ estate—a position to which he was appointed on Jan. 31, following his daughter’s two hospitalizations for psychiatric evaluation.

An attorney for Spears originally attempted to delay the trial by claiming that since her personal and professional lives were still under the control of her father, she was not fit to stand trial—a claim that was rejected by the court.