Lindsay Lohan Escapes Jail Time, Can Legally Drink Again

Judge: Lohan didn't violate probation, she doesn't have to take drug tests.

ByABC News
June 23, 2011, 11:23 AM

June 23, 2011 — -- Lindsay Lohan has escaped jail time again, and now, she's offically allowed to drink alcohol.

At a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing today, judge Stephanie Sautner ruled that the actress did not violate her probation stemming from her 2007 DUI case because there was no order in place to test her for drugs and alcohol.

But Sautner ordered Lohan, who was in court because she failed an alcohol test last week, not to have parties and not have more than one friend at her house at a time. She also told the problem-prone star not to do stupid things that fly in the face of the court's order.

Sautner said Lohan was guilty of "extremely poor judgement by having roof parties while on home confinement" but added, "poor judgment is not a violation of your probation." (Lohan threw a rooftop barbeque for her friends last week.)

Prosecutors asked to reinstate mandatory drug and alcohol testing; Sautner declined the request.

The decision came after more than an hour of deliberations between Lohan's legal team and prosecutors in Sautner's chambers. The actress arrived for her 10 a.m. PT hearing in a conservative outfit -- black slacks, black shoes, a button down shirt, her blonde hair pulled back -- a departure from her more revealing recent courtroom attire.

Lohan was ordered to court after she failed an alcohol test last week. The L.A. County probation department was under the impression that she was required to take drug and alcohol tests, but upon a closer reading of Lohan's old probation order today, the testing requirement was deemed expired.

That means that technically, Lohan can drink alcohol.

The hearing came as Lohan wraps up her house arrest stint for taking a $2,500 necklace from a Venice, Calif., jewelry store. She's due to be released from house arrest Wednesday.

Although she's stuck in her $2.25 million, 3,000-square-foot Venice Beach mansion, Lohan hasn't flown under the radar. TMZ.com revealed earlier this week that she taped a commercial for the Internet auction site Beezid.com from the confines of her home. Lohan was originally offered $25,000 for the spot but turned that down and settled on an undisclosed payment, plus $10,000 of credit to spend on the site.

Lohan also invited Life & Style magazine into her pad for an interview in which she asserted that she does not keep alcohol in her house.

"When my friends come over, they're not drinking," she said. "Alcohol is not in my house, so it's just not a part of my life."

Lohan said she was really "bummed out" about not being able to go to her little brother's 16th birthday party because of her house arrest sentence. While she's looking forward to starting her court-mandated 480 hours of community service after she's released -- "I want to finish that so I can work in August and September" -- she might not change her club-hopping, late-night partying ways.

"I don't think you should ever say never," she said when asked if she'd frequent nightclubs again.

ABC News Radio's Jason Nathanson contributed to this report.