LINDSAY Lohan's whereabouts were unknown just hours after her lawyer told a judge that the troubled actress had checked into a rehab facility only to later learn that the starlet apparently never checked in for treatment.
Lohan's lawyer and publicist did not return messages on Thursday seeking comment about the actress' decision to quickly leave a rehab facility that a state official said is not licensed to perform the type of restrictive in-patient treatment a judge sentenced her to undergo.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday evening that a prosecutor said Lohan was apparently in violation of her probation after spending only a few minutes at Morningside Recovery in Newport Beach.
Santa Monica Chief Deputy City Attorney Terry White did not return phone and email messages about Lohan's case, but said after a court hearing earlier in the day that he was "completely blindsided" by Lohan's decision to check into Morningside. He had previously vetted and approved a different facility, he said.
Lohan's lawyer Mark Heller assured Superior Court Judge James R Dabney at the hearing that Lohan was getting settled in at the centre and got the judge's tentative approval for the actress to remain at the centre while White investigated its credentials.
"My client is ensconced in the bosom of that facility right now," Heller argued after a prosecutor objected to Lohan's choice of rehab facilities. "She's in rehab right now. Nothing bad is going to happen."
Dabney said during the morning hearing that based on the letter from Morningside, it appeared to meet the requirements of Lohan's sentence in the case filed after the actress crashed her car in June while on the way to a film shoot. Dabney agreed that Lohan should remain at Morningside.
Hours after the hearing, Millicent Tidwell, acting deputy director of licensing and certification for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs said Morningside is not licensed to perform residential in-patient rehab or addiction treatment and lacked the appropriate license to provide residential treatment or recovery programs.
The facility is certified to provide outpatient services and operates sober living houses, which do not require licenses, Tidwell said.
Lohan's sentence in a misdemeanour driving case requires her to serve 90 days in a lockdown rehab facility. Her choice of Morningside rankled White, who was given until May 10 to conduct his own investigation of the facility to make sure it complied with the terms of Lohan's sentence.
Morningside Recovery disputed that it was unlicensed and its director wrote in a statement that it has a 1,920-square-metre facility that provides drug and alcohol treatment.
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