Lori Harvey: How She Can Avoid Serving Any Jail Time Despite Car Accident Charges — Lawyer Explains
Shutterstock
Launch Gallery
Lori Harvey is facing up to a year in jail after her 2019 hit and run accident in Beverly Hills. But a criminal defense attorney tells HollywoodLife that she should be able to dodge any time behind bars.
Steve Harvey‘s stepdaughter, model Lori Harvey, 23, was arrested on October 20 after being involved in a hit and run car accident in Beverly Hills. Lori was charged with two misdemeanors — including one count of resisting, delaying, obstructing a peace officer and one count of hit and run, resulting in property damage — in relation to the incident, a spokesperson from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office confirmed to HollywoodLife. And although the charges could land her in jail for up to one year, it’s unlikely, says California criminal attorney and founder of California Legal Counsel Sharen H. Ghatan. Esq.
The expert attorney tells HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY, “Lori Harvey’s lawyer should get this charge dropped. There’s room to negotiate if she allows her attorney the flexibility to negotiate private one on one therapy sessions, anger management, as well as community service hours to ‘earn’ the dismissal…Let’s acknowledge how fortunate it is that there’s no actual person injured, and that there’s no driving under the influence allegation, as these are taken extremely seriously by the court.”
In this case, we’re only talking about property damage. This is something that be can resolved with a civil compromise; a promise to make monetary amends for the property damage suffered. Harvey is likely in a solid financial position, and would be wise to put forward the offer that she will pay the full property damage amount upfront. Once the DA knows that the monetary portion is paid, they tend to be more flexible with penalties. Additionally, Harvey won’t have to stay on probation for too long if she’s met all her payment obligations to both the victim and to the court. If both these charges were committed by someone with no prior criminal history (no criminal convictions in the past 10 years), a savvy criminal attorney could negotiate it all down to a dismissal or at worst, plea to one count, with minimal conditions, and an ultimate expungement. She will not serve a year in jail for mere property damage. Money and community service hours should do the trick.”
It appears Lori isn’t too worried about the charges, because she’s been celebrating her 23rd birthday in Jamaica with a ton of friends and her rumored boyfriend Future. The rapper, 36, took to Instagram on Jan. 13, Lori’s birthday, to share a sultry snap of the two getting cozy in a pool while on their Jamaican vacation. In the snap, Lori chilled by the ledge of the pool, tilting her head back from presumably laughing. Future was very close to the newly minted 23-year-old, bobbing in the water right in front of her. “Life is Good,” he captioned the snap, which you can see here, adding a heart emoji.