Lindsay Lohan Scandals

Well, this comes as a surprise ... and yet not. Lindsay Lohan apparently will NOT take the plea deal the judge offered in her felony grand theft case.

The troubled star, who insists she is innocent and did not steal that $2,500 necklace, will proceed to trial and hope to remain free in the meantime.

Lindsay's case is now assigned to Judge Stephanie Sautner - considered "a tough but fair" judge - with a preliminary hearing is set for April 22.

She faces both jail and prison as the case moves on. Here's why ...

If Judge Sautner thinks Lindsay Lohan violated probation, she could be jailed pending trial. Then, if Lindsay is convicted of grand theft, state prison beckons.

The fact that she could be thrown in jail for a probation violation before her grand theft trial made a plea bargain and three months in jail seem pretty light.

Still, it wasn't without its own set of risks. If she copped a plea, which she was considering seriously, she would have been placed on three years' probation.

LiLo? Staying clean for three years? ROFL. Might as well go b@lls out now.

In short, she's hoping the judge will NOT rule on the probation violation until a verdict is reached in the grand theft case, and that she'll be cleared there.

Smart move? You tell us: Should Lindsay have taken the plea deal?

The good news for Lindsay Lohan? The judge in her grand theft case is serving as the go-between in plea negotiations between Team LiLo and prosecutors.

The bad news? He thinks Lindsay should do time.

Lindsay will appear today before Judge Keith L. Schwartz and prosecutor Danette Meyers, who will offer her lawyer, Shawn Holley, a formal plea bargain.

Meyers already told Holley that doing time is not negotiable, while Lindsay is scared of jail and refuses to accept this. So where do they go from here?

THIN ICE: Lindsay is skating on it, to say the least.

Judge Schwartz will propose that Lindsay accept some jail time for a probation violation (she's still on probation for her 2007 DUI arrest, after all).

In return, he'll offer the actress three years felony probation for the grand theft case, which is more than generous given that it's a felony case.

Of course, the caveat is that if she screws up during that probationary period, she'll be headed to STATE prison, not the county lockup. Yikes.

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As predicted, troubled star Lindsay Lohan was formally charged with a felony count of grand theft after allegedly bogarting a necklace from a jewelry store.

She's publicly denied it, and while that means little to us - she denies responsibility for everything - it all but guaranteed her plea of not guilty in court today.

The judge set bail at $20,000, which Lohan came prepared for and will likely post soon to secure her release. She's been around the block a time or two.

At least Lindsay Lohan arrived dressed to impress!

If convicted in the Venice, Calif., banditry, she could face three years in prison. Her history of thievery and other nonsense was a big reason charges were filed.

Lindsay Lohan has been remanded into custody after the judge gave her a stern admonishment, telling the train wreck "please don't push your luck."

The judge came down on her like a ton of bricks ... telling her "things will be different" this time and not to act like she's different than anyone else.

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Lindsay Lohan will be charged with a single count of felony grand theft in an L.A. court Wednesday, stemming from her recent necklace caper.

She will be arraigned at 1:30 p.m., in person.

Lindsay will be charged with stealing a $2,500 necklace from an L.A. jewelry store. If convicted, she could be sent to California State prison.

Lindsay enjoying life on the outside. [Photo: Pacific Coast News]

Lohan will not be handcuffed and paraded in front of cameras prior to arraignment, but will simply surrender to the court when she shows up tomorrow.

After Lindsay is arraigned, she will be taken to the basement of the courthouse where she will officially add to our gallery of celebrity mug shots. Awesome.

Presumably, she will be granted bail by the judge and post it on the spot. We've been over this enough times with Lohan that we're pretty confident by now.

Further developments will be chronicled right here as they happen.

Lindsay Lohan's excuse for walking out of a jewelry store with a piece the owner says she ripped off was that the store let her borrow the thing on loan.

The store basically called BS on that, saying they don't just loan stuff out. There are insurance requirements and lots of paperwork required beforehand.

Apparently the L.A. County District Attorney agrees with the owner. Sources say that officials will soon file felony grand theft charges against Lindsay.

Lindsay's freedom in the great necklace caper is riding on her claim that the Venice, Calif., jewelery store owner loaned her the $2,500 necklace in question.

Proving that might be a tough task, but proving she's lying may be equally difficult for the accuser and D.A.'s office. Especially if someone else signed for it.

But the simple fact that surveillance video from the store shows LiLo with the necklace and photos of her wearing it a week later were enough for the D.A.

If convicted, Lindsay faces a maximum of three years in state prison.

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In the middle of a police investigation after being accused of stealing an expensive piece of jewelry, Lindsay Lohan just turned over a necklace to police.

Girl cannot stay out of trouble for five minutes. This incident could be much more serious than the whole rehab fight / Dawn Holland bribe scandal too.

It started last week. The owner of an L.A. store filed a police report, claiming a $5,000 necklace had been stolen from her. Suspect #1? You guessed it.

STOP, THIEF! It's always something with LiLo. [Photo: Pacific Coast News]

Store surveillance video shows Lindsay in there, wearing the necklace just before it vanished (it's unclear if the video shows her peacing out with it).

Authorities were about to obtain a warrant to search Lohan's home, but last night one of Lindsay's associates turned that piece over to the cops.

Turning in stolen property doesn't mean you didn't gank it in the first place, of course, so the owner can continue to press the case against Lohan.

Knowing Lindsay - who is still on probation, and could be royally screwed if she's in fact guilty of this - she'll claim she wore it out "by accident."

After Lindsay Lohan's encounter with Dawn Holland at the Betty Ford Center, during which the former staffer originally alleged she was battered by Lindsay, only to take back that claim days later, we joked that bribes go a long way.

Well, the D.A. had the same thought. Only he isn't kidding.

The Riverside County D.A.'s office has kept open the case against Lindsay, and a suspected payoff to Holland is one reason for the extended investigation.

KISS IT GOODBYE: She'd like to, but ... [Photo: Pacific Coast News]

"Riverside District Attorney David Greenberg, who is handling the case, suspects that Dawn Holland was paid off by Lindsay Lohan's camp," a source said.

"Greenberg believes that Dawn's change of heart was fiscally motivated. Greenberg believes Lindsay's camp paid Dawn off, plain and simple."

A source says Lindsay was unaware of any payment involving Dawn. That's because, Radar Online claims, Michael Lohan was the one involved.

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Lindsay Lohan is a free woman ... BUT FOR HOW LONG?!

Seriously, the girl commits probation violations like Miley Cyrus' idiot friends take semi-scandalous pics and videos of her. Lindsay's little scuffle at Betty Ford may ultimately land her in a heap of trouble, and possibly even back in jail.

Her fate rests with the Riverside County District Attorney.

Officials believe Lindsay violated her probation in the altercation with a Betty Ford Center staff member, and if the judge handling her case agrees ... trouble.

Dawn Holland, a staffer at Betty Ford, claims Lindsay assaulted and injured her last month after allegedly violating her curfew. Lindsay sort of denies this.

For whatever reason, Holland, who was fired for blabbing about the event to TMZ, pulled a 180 and told police she had no interest in pursuing the case.

Without a witness cooperating, the case should go away. Right?

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Lindsay Lohan claims the Betty Ford staff member who alleges battery by the star "had it out for her" and was so abusive that she made Lohan cry.

Dawn Holland, who was just fired, says otherwise.

A chemical dependency technician, Holland says Lindsay attacked her physically and caused her to sprain her arm so severely she's on workers' comp.

Lindsay is telling her friends and family, when she returned to the house, Holland grabbed her abruptly and pushed her so hard, Lindsay began to cry.

AS ALWAYS: Lindsay Lohan is the victim! [Photo: Pacific Coast News]

Lohan also notes, for starters, that she wasn't even with her two roommates hours before the incident that triggered the staffer's battery allegation.

Lindsay says was out getting her hair done ... around midnight. That's obviously true. Wherever she was, she broke curfew and all hell broke loose.

Holland says Lohan refused to take a breathalyzer, whereas the troubled star says she actually asked Holland to give her a test but Holland refused.

That's when things got really heated.

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Another day, another absurd story from Betty Ford. Lindsay Lohan is a suspect in a criminal battery investigation after getting into a scuffle ... in rehab.

The Palm Desert Police Department is investigating the altercation, which occurred after Lindsay and her roommates went out to A BAR and came back.

Upon arriving at their sober house, the incident with a female staffer allegedly went down. Police were called after a "hand-to-hand battery" complaint.

NOT MY FAULT! There's always some excuse. [Photo: Pacific Coast News]

Cops came to Betty Ford after receiving the call and interviewed both the staffer - who "desired prosecution" - and the oft-troubled star herself.

It's unclear if this was related to Lohan's rager in rehab this month, but when police finish investigating, prosecutors will decide how to proceed.

Whether they file charges is anyone's guess, but she could be sent back to jail because she's still technically on probation until August 2011.

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