Saying She Doesn't Recall Incident, Halle Berry Gets Probation In Hit And Run Case

Jet, May 29, 2000

Halle Berry was recently ordered to pay $13,500 and sentenced to three years' probation and perform 200 hours of community service after she pleaded no contest to leaving the scene of a car accident in February.

Still wearing a band-aid on her forehead after having had 22 stitches, Berry, 33, appeared before Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Charles Rubin and said: "I'd like this court to know that I have taken this matter very seriously from the beginning." She said she is glad that the "true facts" of the case have come out.

Berry had been accused of running a red light at an intersection in West Hollywood and slamming into a car driven by Hetal Raythatha, 27, and leaving the scene.

She told reporters all she remembers is going into the intersection and the next thing she remembers is that she was at her home several blocks away with blood all over her face.

In an interview with ABC's "20/20," she said: "The truth is, I was at my girlfriend's house, catching up, having chips and diet coke, left her house to go back to my house which was just five minutes away ... I was not speeding and the investigative reports of the police department have confirmed that. I was not speeding. I was wearing my seat belt. I approached the intersection two blocks from my house on Sunset and Doheny and the last thing I remember about approaching that intersection was something dark coming from my right. The next thing I remember after that is being at my house, blood pouring from my forehead."

She said her short-term memory loss is considered by experts to be common for her kind of accident.

"I had no reason to (leave)," she told ABC. "No drugs and alcohol. I have a valid driver's license, more than adequate car insurance. I would have no reason to not stand there and be an upstanding citizen and take responsibility. None whatsoever."

Prosecutors and officials at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she drove herself soon after the accident reportedly agreed that Berry's head injury was severe.

Because officials charged her with a misdemeanor instead of a felony and didn't file any charges immediately, there were charges that she received preferential treatment.

"She got the same treatment that any other woman who walked through those courthouse doors would get," said Deputy District Attorney Jodi Brandt.

Brandt told reporters after the sentencing: "We'd have liked to have heard the word 'guilty' come out of her mouth."

There also were reports that Berry had been under the influence of alcohol or drugs and that she had been involved in several other hit and run accidents in the past. She issued emphatic denials of all reports. In fact, prosecutors said they had investigated the allegations that she had been involved in previous hit and runs and said they could not substantiate those rumors.

Berry said those claims were made by Raythatha's attorney in the civil suit they filed against the actress.

Because of Berry's large and growing celebrity status, the case remained a major story in the Los Angeles area for weeks.

Regarding Raythatha, Berry said: "I would love to tell her how sorry I am that we both entered into that collision that night. I wouldn't want to cause injury to another. I wouldn't want anyone to cause injury to me. And I'm just very sorry that the whole thing happened, really. And if I am found to be responsible for this accident through civil court, I am more than happy to, and willing, to take appropriate responsibility."

She said her fiance, singer Eric Benet, has been extremely supportive of her throughout the ordeal. She also said she's anxious to perform her community service (not defined at JET press time) and put the whole episode to bed.