First Lady arrested for DUI

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Stockard Channing Charged with DUI
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,15784,00.html
by Charlie Amter
Jan 25, 2005, 6:05 PM PT

Stockard Channing is in a jam after apparently trying to avoid a Los Angeles traffic jam.

The actress was charged Monday with two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence for a December incident in which she allegedly attempted to circumvent snarled traffic on a Hollywood freeway.

The California Highway Patrol said Tuesday that the West Wing first lady was driving drunk around 10 p.m. on Dec. 14 after trying to negotiate around stalled traffic by pulling her 2003 Porsche Boxster onto the shoulder and passing the stopped cars.

Unfortunately for Channing, 60, the traffic had been halted by police, who were clearing a broken-down tractor-trailer from the freeway, and the cops immediately pulled her over.

The CHP officers said they smelled alcohol emanating from the sports car and gave the New York-born actress an on-site sobriety test, which she flubbed.

According to the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, Channing's blood alcohol level topped out at 0.13, way above California's legal limit of 0.08.

She was arrested and spent three hours apparently sobering up in county jail before she was allowed to leave without having to post bail.

Calls to Channing's publicist were not immediately returned Tuesday.

Because no one was injured, the Grease star will only face misdemeanor counts, meaning it's unlikely she'll spend any additional time behind bars.

Aside from her Emmy-winning stint as Abbey Bartlet on The West Wing, Channing has a role in 3 Needles, a drama costarring Lucy Liu and Sandra Oh. The film wrapped late last year and is currently in post-production, per IMDB.

Channing, who won critical accolades for her portrayal of a hard-drinking businesswoman in the 2001 film The Business of Strangers, is due in court Feb. 9 for arraignment on the DUI charges.