Britney’s new lawyer says dad must step aside
LOS ANGELES — A judge allowed Britney Spears to hire an attorney of her choosing at a hearing Wednesday in which she broke down in tears after describing the “cruelty” of her conservatorship.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny approved Spears hiring former federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart, who called on Spears’ father to resign as her conservator.
“The question remains, why is he involved?” Rosengart said outside the courthouse.
Spears, taking part in the hearing by phone, told the judge she approved of Rosengart after several conversations with him. She then asked to address the court, but asked that the courtroom be cleared.
As Rosengart began to argue for a private hearing, Spears interrupted him to say “I can talk with it open.”
“My dad needs to be removed today,” she said, adding that she would like to see him charged with abusing his position.
She spoke so rapidly she was at times difficult for the court reporter and the dozens of media members in the courtroom to understand. She said she wanted the conservatorship to end immediately, but not if it required going through any more “stupid” evaluations. She said she did not want another opportunity for “people to question my intelligence for the millionth time.”
She described being denied things as basic as coffee, her driver’s license and her “hair vitamins” by the conservatorship. “If this is not abuse, I don’t know what is,” Spears said.
“I thought they were trying to kill me” in the early years of the conservatorship as she was overworked and constantly examined.
She began to sob as she talked about taking comfort in a therapy dog when she felt abandoned by her family.
James Spears would not be stepping down as Rosengart challenged, his attorney Vivan Thoreen said in court, adding that he has only ever had his daughter’s best interests in mind.
Thoreen said Britney Spears had many inaccurate beliefs, among them that “her father is responsible for all the bad things that have happened to her.”
“Whether it’s misinformation, lack of correction, or being wrongly advised, I don’t know,” Thoreen said.
Thoreen emphasized that for nearly two years James Spears has had control only over his daughter’s money, ceding power over her life choices to a court-appointed professional, Jodi Montgomery.
The case had for several years operated with little drama, though questions about how its length and the singer’s feelings about the proceedings, arose in recent years. That has culminated into intense public scrutiny of the court proceedings, which have been conducted largely in secret due to medical and private information about the singer.
There has also been focus on the complex network of lawyers and others involved in the conservatorship.
Penny again gave little indication of what moves she’ll make next, scheduling another hearing for late September and expressing hope that the warring factions will find common ground for Britney Spears’ sake.