NICOLE RICHIE TO FIGHT DUI

It's official! Fabulously svelt Nicole Richie will try and fight her DUI rap. TMZ.com was in court today when Richie's lawyer made the announcement. The celebrity news website also said a trial date has been set for July 11.

You'll recall that Richie was arrested last December for driving the wrong way on an L.A. highway. Luckily she didn't cause a serious accident but after cops stopped her, they say she confessed to having been smoking marijuana and had taken Vicodin, a prescription pain killer.

We're hoping Richie and her lawyer have a good excuse for the socialite's erratic behavior. Richie has a prior DUI and if he's convicted, it will most definitely result in some time in the slammer. TMZ reports a minimum of 5 days and a potential 90.

With the magnifying glass clearly placed over the Los Angeles judicial system in the wake of the Paris Hilton fiasco, it's going to be very difficult for Richie to completely dodge this one.

We wish Richie all the luck in the world but we're just slightly dismayed that the two party girls didn't coordinate their crimes a bit better. The only thing we can think would have been better than the Paris goes to jail circus would have been adding Nicole Richie to the mix.

Oh well, gossip whores can dream, can't we???