Names and faces

LITTLE ROCK — Lindsay Lohan sidestepped another jail stint Friday when a California judge sent the 24-year-old starlet back to a treatment center, telling her she faces jail time if she relapses again. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox ordered Lohan to remain at the Betty Ford Center until Jan. 3 and report back to court in late February. “You are an addict, I hope you understand that,” Fox told Lohan. A prosecutor had advocated a six-month jail sentence for the Mean Girls star, but Fox opted for treatment after reviewing filings by probation and rehabilitation officials and a letter written by Lohan. The actress told probation officials last week that she didn’t want to remain in rehabilitation because “continued inpatient treatment would be a hardship financially, and damaging to her career,” according to a report filed in advance of a hearing Friday. Probation officials and Lohan’s doctors recommended that she remain at Betty Ford, and the judge agreed. The actress cried after hearing the sentence. The judge acknowledged that Lohan, 24, has been in and out of court and rehabilitation since a pair of high-profile arrests in 2007. He told the actress that he would not be manipulated by her but was giving her a final chance to stay clean. “You’re staying past the New Year’s - there’s a reason for that,” Fox said. Fox’s sentence means Lohan will not be returning to a suburban Los Angeles women’s jail for a fourth time. Her legal woes are the result of drug and drunkendriving charges filed in the 2007 arrests.

A Nevada Supreme Court panel Friday denied O.J. Simpson’s appeal of his armed-robbery and kidnapping convictions, finding his arguments that nearly every phase of the trial was flawed “without merit.” Simpson’s legal team vowed to fight the decision. “This is not the end of the game,” said attorney Malcolm LaVergne. “I’m not comfortable with the decision at all.” Separately, the three-justice panel ordered a new trial for Simpson co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart. The justices agreed that he couldn’t get a fair trial alongside the former football great who had been acquitted of double murder in California. Simpson was sentenced in 2008 to at least nine years in prison for leading a ragtag crew in the armed robbery of two memorabilia dealers. The former pitchman argued that he was merely trying to get back stolen property.