Will Paris Stay in Jail This Time?

June 8, 2007 — -- As Paris Hilton pinballs back into jail today, the California legal community is buzzing about the biggest L.A. legal drama since the O.J. verdict.

One attorney said today's decision to send her back to jail was the result of a "policy power showdown'' between a veteran judge and a popular sheriff.

But the final outcome is anything but certain. An appeal is expected.

The policy in question is this: Who has jurisdiction over prisoners once they have been sentenced, the sheriff or the judge?

Legal experts and California lawyers who spoke with ABC News are split over that question.

In general, legal experts say it's the county sheriff, and not the judge, who exercises oversight over inmates in county jail. The sheriff, however, is expected to honor specific judicial orders, and one thing Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Sauer specified was no electronic monitoring.

But complicating the matter for legal experts is the mysterious medical condition that prompted the heiress' early release in the first place, after serving just three full days in jail.

Even an impending nervous breakdown should not, in most attorneys' opinions, be the basis for an early release.

Had the sheriff released her to ease overcrowding, attorneys who spoke to ABC News said, it likely would have been looked upon more sympathetically by the court.

"This was a policy power showdown between the judiciary and sheriff's department, both of whom are very powerful," said attorney Dana Cole, adding that it's not unusual for the sheriff's office to release inmates early to electronic monitoring at home, because of longstanding overcrowding in California's prison system.

"If they had let her out for early release rather than for medical reasons, they would have had a better case," Cole said, but a "quasi medical reason does smack of two-tier justice."

Attorney Mark Geragos told ABC News that he felt the judge violated the California penal code.