SPRING TIME FOR PARIS SHERIFF FREES HEIRESS FROM JAIL, BUT JUDGE ORDERS HER BACK TO COURT.

Byline: TONY CASTRO

Staff Writer

Just three days after being jailed, Paris Hilton was sent home Thursday to spend 40 days wearing an electronic bracelet at her Hollywood Hills mansion, sparking widespread criticism of Sheriff Lee Baca and allegations of special treatment of the rich and famous.

A nationwide outcry prompted the City Attorney's Office to file a request that Hilton be returned to jail, and a hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. today.

Earlier Thursday, Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said Baca decided to release Hilton after "extensive consultation" with medical personnel. He refused to elaborate, citing privacy rights, but said "there was no staph infection or anything like that."

However, celebrity Web site TMZ.com -- which broke the news of Hilton's early release -- reported that she'd been "in peril of having a nervous breakdown" while "Entertainment Tonight," citing Hilton family sources, claimed she'd developed a rash on her body.

"This makes a mockery of due process," county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich said.

"You're dealing with a spoiled brat, acting out to get her way instead of serving her time as was adjudicated by the courts.

"She should pay the consequences for her actions and what's happened? She's now going home to her estate."

The Board of Supervisors, which controls the budget for the independently elected sheriff, plans to ask Baca for a report next week.

"This incident with Paris Hilton," Supervisor Don Knabe said in a statement, "is just the most recent that highlights the problems our criminal justice system has with making sure sentences stick, whether it is in a county jail or under electronic monitoring."

Baca -- who released Hilton in spite of the opposition of the county's Probation Department and the Superior Court judge in the case -- canceled two planned news conferences Thursday, and a spokesman said he would not comment about his decision.

Hilton was originally ordered to spend 45 days in jail for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless-driving case. Under state sentencing guidelines for awarding "good time" for days served, she was expected to serve 23 days, meaning the socialite/heiress should have remained behind bars until June 26.

Hilton had checked into the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood just after midnight Monday and was released at 2:09 a.m. Thursday, with an electronic ankle bracelet that officials said would monitor her movements for the next 40 days.

What about others?

At a news conference Thursday outside the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, community activist Najee Ali with Project Islamic Hope said he wants the county to investigate how many other inmates in county jail have medical problems that would make them eligible for electronic monitoring.

"As someone who's been inside the institution, I've seen hundreds of inmates in the jail wards that have medical conditions and they are not being released to home confinement," Ali said. "In fact, if Paris Hilton's medical condition is that serious, send her to the hospital to finish out her stay."

In New York, the Rev. Al Sharpton said that releasing Hilton had "all of the appearances of economic and racial favoritism."

Comments like Sharpton's prompted Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo to announce his office would investigate whether Hilton had received preferential treatment.

"Only the judge has the power to modify these conditions of probation," Delgadillo said in a statement, adding his concerns that "the judicial process may have been improperly circumvented."

"I have directed my criminal branch to immediately explore all possible legal options to ensure that the law is being applied equally and justly in this case. If Ms. Hilton's medical condition truly warranted a change in her circumstances, what should have happened is the following: Ms. Hilton's legal counsel should have filed an emergency application with the court and provided my office with the opportunity to respond, and then the court could have held a hearing on the matter to consider whether there was sufficient justification to change the terms of his original order."

Judge: No release

When Hilton, 26, was sentenced May 4, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer specifically ordered that she should not be allowed any work release, furloughs, access to an alternative jail or electronic monitoring in lieu of jail.

The court released a statement late Thursday afternoon, saying it had been told Wednesday that the Sheriff's Department wanted to release Hilton and place her on electronic monitoring. Sauer told the department he would not change his order without a written application, supported by "substantial facts," and that no such request was made.

"This was a unilateral decision by the Sheriff's Department," the statement said.

In a brief statement issued through her attorney, Hilton thanked the Sheriff's Department and the jail staff "for treating me fairly and professionally. I am going to serve the remaining 40 days of my sentence. I have learned a great deal from this ordeal and hope that others have learned from my mistakes." she said.

Meanwhile, residents were almost unanimous in their criticism of Hilton's early release. Gabriel Weldon, doing business Thursday at the Van Nuys Courthouse, called Hilton's case a "travesty of justice. The fact that she can get away with it, that she has bought herself out of jail," he said, "it sends bad messages to our youth. This is the worst one. This is embarrassing."

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Heiress Paris Hilton spent three nights in jail before being released Thursday morning with an ankle monitor.

(2 -- color) Sheriff's Department spokeman Steve Whitmore briefs reporters on Paris Hilton's release Thursday.

Nick Ut/Associated Press