AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar

You can take the case out of court, but can you take the court out of the case?

Roman Polanski, who last month moved to have a decades-old charge of unlawful intercourse with a minor dismissed, filed a motion Monday to have the entire case removed from the Los Angeles Superior Court system and handed to the California Judicial Council for review.

Citing judicial bias and misconduct that was alleged in the recent documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, the 75-year-old filmmaker's legal camp states that the "entire case should be referred to the Judicial Council for further proceedings and a determination free from even the appearance of bias and taint."

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Santa Barbara Police Department

The new year is bringing a clean slate for Heather Locklear.

E! News has confirmed that Santa Barbara prosecutors have dismissed a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence after the actress pleaded no contest to a lesser charge stemming from her Sept. 27 arrest.

The plea, for misdeameanor reckless driving, was entered by attorney Blair Berk.

Locklear was fined $700 fine, placed on informal probation for three years and ordered to attend a 12-hour drug-education program, according to the Santa Barbara District Attorney.

The once and possibly future Melrose Place star was charged with DUI on Nov. 17 after a somewhat lengthy investigation into her roadside arrest.

—Additional reporting by Ashley Fultz

(Originally published Jan. 2, 2009 at 10:28 a.m. PT.)

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Marilyn Manson wants to hook back up with Dita Von Teese...and Trent Reznor and several other old pals.

The shock-rocker's camp has unveiled a witness wish list that includes his ex-wife and his Nine Inch Nails-fronting mentor to testify on his behalf in an upcoming court showdown with estranged keyboardist Stephen Bier.

Bier, otherwise known as Madonna Wayne Gacy, sued Manson for more than $20 million last year, claiming Manson siphoned off millions of dollars in band revenue.

The funds allegedly paid for drugs, assorted Nazi paraphernalia, the cost of Von Teese's engagement ring and the ex-couple's 2005 wedding, and the interior decorating of Manson's mansion, which features a stuffed grizzly bear, a pair of baboons and the skeleton of a 4-year-old Chinese girl.

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DJ AM wants us to know he's not taking the fatal plane crash he survived personally. 

In response to reports about his recently filed negligence lawsuit against those his legal camp feels are liable for the Sept. 19 crash that killed four and left AM and Travis Barker with severe burns, the celebrity spinner has taken issue with the interpretation that he is suing the families of the deceased pilots.

"Normally I don't feel like I NEED to make a statement like this, but after I read some recently reported untruths I feel like I have to," AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, wrote on his MySpace blog. "I want to take a second to address the hurtful posts and clear up any misunderstandings any of you may have about my law suit. I would NEVER sue the deceased pilots' estates or personal holdings."

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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images, Ray Tamarra/Getty Images

The Hairspray star's assault charges have officially been washed away.

Nikki Blonsky and onetime America's Next Top Model contestant Bianca Golden are clear of all charges stemming from their July 29 arrests following a blowout, family-style airport smackdown.

"The cases against Nikki Blonsky and Bianca Golden have been dropped," Turks and Caicos Police Sgt. Calvin Chase told E! News.

"The only case that is still proceeding is against [Blonsky's] father."

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UPDATE: McCauley pleaded not guilty Wednesday to all charges and was ordered held on $3 million bail.
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Dane Cook's business manager has blown his chances at being Employee of the Month.

Cook's brother, Darryl McCauley, is set to be arraigned Wednesday morning on larceny and forgery charges for allegedly stealing millions from his little bro between July 2007 and December 2008.

McCauley, 43, was arrested Tuesday by Massachusetts State Police after a two-week investigation and charged with two counts of larceny of more than $250, forgery and larceny by continuous scheme.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, who would only confirm that the alleged victim was a nationally known entertainer, says McCauley transfered money from his client's account into his own without permission, at one point forging a $3 million check.

(Originally published Dec. 30, 2008 at 4:10 p.m. PT.)

AP Photo/Edmond Terakopian

They're trying to make Amy Winehouse go to Norway, but will she go, go, go?

The "Rehab" songbird has been summoned to appear at a Norwegian appellate court hearing in January in connection with an Oct. 18, 2007, drug arrest, according to the country's online newspaper Nettavisen.

Winehouse was on tour in the western Norway town of Bergen when she, hubby Blake Fielder-Civil and a member of her crew were busted for pot possession after police found less than a quarter of an ounce of marijuana in a hotel room.

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Matt Dillon felt the need for speed. The Vermont State Police felt the need to bust him for it.

The Oscar-nominated—and apparently lead-footed—actor was arrested and cited for excessive speeding in Newbury, Vt., last night after local police clocked him going 106 mph in a 65-mph zone.

According to state troopers, officers pulled the 44-year-old star over at roughly 10 p.m. after spotting his excessively zippy ride on Interstate 91.

The Crash star was fingerprinted, cited and photographed before being sent on his law-abiding way.

He is due to appear in Vermont's Orange County Court Jan. 21 to answer to the charge.

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

Perhaps DMX has seen the error of his ways and is looking to make a fresh start in 2009.

Just in time to make New Year's resolutions, the oft-arrested rapper has cut a deal in his pending animal cruelty, drug possession and identity theft cases in order to avoid being prosecuted for more than a dozen crimes.

Instead, DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Phoenix court to one count apiece of animal cruelty, theft, marijuana possession and possession of a narcotic, the last three of which are felonies.

Sentencing has been set for Jan. 30 in Maricopa County Superior Court. Additional charges will be dismissed at that time but DMX is facing at least 90 days in jail, according to prosecutors.

"I am pleased that this defendant will be held accountable for both his drug and animal cruelty offenses," said County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

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The man accused of killing Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew back on Oct. 24 has been formally indicted on murder and home invasion charges after appearing in Chicago court for a brief hearing this afternoon.

The 27-year-old William Balfour, who along with his attorney continues to deny his involvement in the slayings of 57-year-old Darnell Donerson, 29-year-old Jason Hudson and 7-year-old Julian King, is currently being held without bond on a parole violation at Illinois' Stateville Correctional Center.

Balfour today was indicted on the same four counts he was formally charged with earlier this month—three counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion—thereby alleviating the need for prosecutors to lay out their evidence at a subsequent hearing. They have, however, already put forth their theory on the tragedy.

In addition to the indictment, Balfour's attorney today requested that his client be transferred to the Cook County Jail in order to be nearer to his family. No decision has yet been made on the request.

The next hearing has been set for Jan. 20.

Columbia Pictures

It was a night of drinking Vinnie Jones could've done without.

An attorney for the X-Men star pleaded not guilty on his client's behalf today to assault charges resulting from a rumble at a local bar earlier this month in South Dakota, E! News has learned.

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Warner Bros / DC Comics

Twentieth Century Fox has won a key battle in its mission to halt Watchmen's release. But the war goes on.

A federal judge in Los Angeles has issued a preliminary ruling backing the studio's claim to an ownership stake in the Zack Snyder-directed flick that could prohibit Warner Bros. from unspooling it on March 6, much to the dismay of film geeks everywhere who've been anxiously awaiting a big-screen version of Alan Moore's famed graphic novel.

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