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LOS ANGELES - Paris Hilton has already served more time behind bars than most people for similar probation offences, a Los Angeles Times investigation concluded, as authorities announced yet another move for the jailed socialite.
The newspaper's findings came as detractors accused the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
of giving preferential treatment to Hilton, who has become a symbol of privilege and the excesses of America's celebrity culture.
Five days after being returned to jail from a 24-hour stint under house arrest, the blond, willowy hotel heiress was transferred late on Wednesday from a county jail's medical ward back to the detention centre where her incarceration began 12 days ago.
Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said on Thursday that Hilton's "medical condition is stable" and that she would be housed for now at the health clinic of the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, a Los Angeles suburb.
"Her condition will continue to be monitored," Whitmore told a brief news conference, adding she might be moved back into her original jail unit if her condition warranted it.
Hilton, 26, was expected to be released on June 25, Whitmore said.
Whitmore declined to discuss her condition. But celebrity website TMZ.com cited law enforcement sources as saying that Hilton suffers panic attacks when confined to a small space.
Hilton originally was sentenced to 45 days in jail for violating probation in a drunken-driving case by driving on a suspended license. But her term was cut to 23 days under a standard credit applied for time served on good behaviour.
A Los Angeles Times analysis found that 80 per cent of Los Angeles County inmates sentenced for similar offenses since July 2002 have served less time than Hilton will end up doing. She already has served more time than at least 60 per cent of those prisoners, it said.
Hilton originally was booked into the Lynwood facility on June 2 and spent three full days there before Sheriff Lee Baca, who oversees the jail system, reassigned her last Thursday to home detention under electronic monitoring.
Baca cited unspecified psychological problems affecting Hilton's medical condition as the reason for his decision, which drew immediate fire from prosecutors, the judge who presided over Hilton's case and angry members of the public.
The judge, Michael Sauer, ordered a distraught Hilton back to jail last Friday to complete her term.
Rather than returning her to the Lynwood facility, Baca had her sent to the medical unit of another detention site in Los Angeles where she could get more sophisticated care.
Whitmore said she was moved back to Lynwood on Wednesday night after Baca determined Hilton's condition had improved.
- REUTERS