Courtney Love turned herself in to Beverly Hills police on Tuesday afternoon (October 28) to face two felony drug-possession charges.
A warrant was issued for Love’s arrest on October 22 after the Los Angeles district attorney’s office received evidence from police that Love was in possession of the prescription painkillers hydrocodone and oxycodone when she was picked up on October 2 following an overdose.
“She was never arrested on these charges, but she was found to be in possession at the time,” Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office spokesperson Sandi Gibbons said. The felony charges are separate from Love’s other drug case, a misdemeanor.
Love was arrested for being under the influence of a controlled substance following a window-smashing incident at her ex-boyfriend’s house in the early morning hours of October 2. She posted $2,500 bond in that case and was released several hours later.
That same morning, Beverly Hills authorities responded to an emergency medical call at the singer’s home shortly after 6 a.m., and it was then that Gibbons said police found Love in possession of an unspecified amount of the painkillers, commonly known as Vicodin and OxyContin, or “hillbilly heroin.” Love recently admitted to taking an overdose of OxyContin that morning. Additionally, she told the New York Daily News in February that she had been trying to kick the habit of using other prescription drugs, namely Vicodin.
Gibbons said the Los Angeles DA’s office requested $20,000 bail, but Love was released on her own recognizance, according to her lawyer. The maximum penalty for conviction on both felony charges is three years and eight months in jail, though Gibbons said a judge will first determine if Love is eligible for court-monitored probation, which would send her to a drug diversion program that could last a year or longer.
“It’s not much of a case, if a case at all,” Love’s criminal lawyer, William Genego, said. “It was literally like three pills. They were not found on her. She handed them over to the police that night and she had no concern in handing them over because she believed she had a prescription for them. Hopefully we’ll get proof of that, and they’ll take that into account.”
Genego said the felony and misdemeanor cases might be consolidated, “but we’ll have to see how that plays out.”
Love, 39, is also involved in a fierce custody battle for her 11-year-old daughter Frances Bean, who was taken away in light of Love’s arrest on the drug charges. Love was recently ordered to move out of her Beverly Hills home so that Frances (her daughter by her late husband and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain) could live there with her longtime nanny, although she is still allowed regular visitation.
Love’s arraignment on the misdemeanor charge of being under the influence is on Friday, but she is not required nor scheduled to appear, her lawyer said. She is, however, required to appear at her arraignment on the felony charges, which has been set for November 12. A spokesperson for Love had no comment.
