Actor arrested under influence of GBH (sic)

Nolte on 'date rape' drug charge
October 24 2002
Oscar-nominated US actor Nick Nolte was today charged with driving under the influence of a "date rape" drug.
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office said two misdemeanour charges, including one count of being under the influence of the drug known as GBH, were filed against the star.
The charges follow Nolte's arrest in Malibu, California last month when he was stopped for driving erratically on the Pacific Coast Highway.
Nolte checked himself into a substance abuse centre a few days afterwards.
The actor is due to be arraigned in Malibu Superior Court on Monday October 28 but does not have to be present in court since this is a misdemeanour case.
He is charged with one count of driving under the influence and one count of being under the influence of Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate.
Known as GBH, the illegal substance is described as a club drug which depresses the central nervous system and gives the user a sense of euphoria.
It is also known as a "date rape" drug which, like the substance Rohypnol, is used by potential attackers to sedate their victims.
Last month, Nolte, the star of Cape Fear and Down and Out in Beverly Hills, checked into Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut. The same hospital recently treated singers Billy Joel and Diana Ross.
At the time of his arrest on September 11, Nolte, 61, had been driving his black 1992 Mercedes-Benz and was seen swerving into oncoming highway lanes by California Highway Patrol officers conducting an unrelated traffic stop.
After he was pulled over, the arresting officer involved in the case described the actor as dishevelled and drooling.
Nolte, who was released on $US1,600 ($A2,900) bail, had a reputation as a heavy drinker for years, once describing himself as a "functioning drunk".
But in the mid-1990s, he reportedly quit alcohol and became a fitness buff.
He was nominated for Oscars for 1991's The Prince of Tides and 1997's Affliction. He also received an Emmy nomination for his role as Tom Jordache in the 1976 television miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man.
Next year, Nolte appears as Dr David Banner in director Ang Lee's The Hulk which also stars Eric Bana and Jennifer Connelly.
As usual, they got the name wrong and the stereotypically referred to it as the date rape drug
Too bad they didn't point out that GHB has successfully been used in Europe as a treatment for alcoholism. Perhaps that explains the statement about his recovery from alcoholism in the mid 90's?!
However, what a moron - driving under the influence of GHB! No wonder he was "dishevelled and drooling"!
Anyway, I think that it will be interesting to watch how this case proceeds.
Nolte on 'date rape' drug charge

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Nick Nolte's camp hopes a legal gambit Monday will help turn the tide for the Prince of Tides star who has recently been swept up in a bizarre set of drug charges.
The 61-year-old actor was supposed to be in court this morning to enter his plea to misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and being under the influence of a controlled substance.
But at the behest of Nolte's defense team, the judge postponed the arraignment until December 5 to give the actor's attorneys time to do their own tests on the actor's blood sample.
Seems Nolte's crew is taking issue with what the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office claims is the influential substance. The D.A. says the actor was jacked up on GHB, a date-rape drug also known as Liquid Ecstasy. Team Nolte says no way.
"He was not under the influence of a date-rape drug. That's ridiculous" defense attorney Mark Werksman said outside court. "Nick Nolte is not out there popping illicit or narcotic drugs."
The California Highway Patrol pulled over the two-time Oscar nominee last month, after he was spotted swerving across the lanes of the Pacific Coast Highway in his black Mercedes-Benz. He failed a field sobriety test and was booked on DUI charges. His blood was also screened for intoxicants, and that screen is what turned up the alleged GHB. No other substances were found in his system.
As expected, Nolte was a no-show at Monday's court date. After a powwow between the prosecution and the defense, Malibu Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira said Nolte can remain free until his pending trial if he promises to abide by certain conditions, including random drug tests, treatment in a substance-abuse program, no driving until his license suspension ends and abstinence from alcohol and drugs.
So far, Nolte, once a self-proclaimed "functioning drunk" seems to be making efforts at rehabilitation. Just three days after his arrest, he checked himself into the celeb-friendly Silver Hill clinic in Connecticut. While he was there, his publicist Paul Bloch said Nolte planned to "receive advice and counsel that he feels he needs at this time."
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/Pf/0,1527,10743,00.html

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Drug-drive Nolte on probation
By Lisa Leff in Malibu
December 13, 2002
ACTOR Nick Nolte has pleaded no contest to a charge of driving under
the influence of drugs.
The Hollywood star was sentenced to three years' probation, including counselling and drug testing, today.
In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped a second misdemeanor charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance.
The 61-year-old 48 Hours star was stopped by police near his Malibu home after swerving his black Mercedes into oncoming lanes on the Pacific Coast Highway.
Lab tests showed he had taken the banned depressant GHB, the so- called date-rape drug, although Nolte claimed after his sentencing that he had taken "a synergistic amino acid thing".
Taken from
here

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