Lindsay Lohan's accident probably won't amount to much, a leading defense attorney tells CBS.
Gossips claimed the hard partying screen star could face a prison term after suspected cocaine was found in her car.
Cops who arrested her for alleged drink-driving said a “usable amount� of the drug was found in the car.
If convicted of possessing cocaine, the 20-year-old actress could be given up to a year behind bars reports SUN UK.
CBS News consultant Mickey Sherman says Lohan isn't "in as deep problems as you would think."
"As far as we know," Sherman told co-anchor Hannah Storm on The Early Show Monday, "she doesn't have a record for DWI (driving while intoxicated), she doesn't have a prior conviction and, unlike Paris Hilton, to our knowledge, she's not on probation for any of these things.
"So, even listless, misguided, spoiled celebrities are often entitled to, you know, a first bite at the apple. In all likelihood she'll get some type of diversionary program or first offender program.
"But the fact that it's just a usable quality, (as opposed to) a selling quantity, she's not going to be charged with anything extraordinarily serious, as far as the cocaine's concerned..
"Plus, you have a gap. She wasn't in the car. She went to get help. You know, she could always say, (and it) may or may not be true, that she had drinks after, in fact, the accident and before she got to the emergency room. Sounds contrived, but it often happens."
blood alcohol test admissible in court?
"Well," Smerman responded, "(there) may be, but the question is, how relevant can it be, because if she says, 'Just before I went to the hospital, I was so upset, I went across the street to the bar and had drinks.' You know, that may not be supported by facts, but, you know, eventually the police are going to get to the hospital, get the records, find out if there's alcohol in her system — and don't forget the charge is under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. So, if they can show that she had an opiate in her system, that could convict her as well. Then again, it appears to be a first offense and the key thing is, nobody got hurt except a couple of trees off Sunset (Blvd.)."
Technically, Sherman noted, when Lohan left the scene to go to the hospital, "That's a crime. Then again, it's not like she took the plates off the car or had somebody remove the car. She left the car there, her Mercedes is there, registered to her or her people, as we say, so I don't think that's a big deal, (that) she left the scene. It would be had she hit somebody and there were injuries. But just herself, it's a crime, but it's like an infraction, not a big deal."
Sherman added, "The Internet is filled with her coming from the bar, running from the -- from her car after the accident. This woman doesn't do anything that's not videoed. So, she's under enormous pressure. In all likelihood, a judge will order her, or her lawyer will say, 'Get some help before they even order you to do it.' "
The weekend crash was Lohan's third accident in roughly two years.
