Warrant Issued for ‘Cheers’ Actor Over Missed Court Date

Actor Kelsey Grammer, who was slapped with arrest warrants twice previously in connection with a 1988 drunk-driving conviction, was again ordered arrested Wednesday after he missed a court appearance in Van Nuys on an unrelated drug charge.

Grammer, 35, who plays the brainy psychiatrist Frasier Crane in the “Cheers” television series, was scheduled to appear in Van Nuys Municipal Court to prove he was participating in a drug rehabilitation program offered as an alternative to standing trial after his arrest for cocaine possession.

The Van Nuys resident did not enroll in the program, according to a probation report prepared for Wednesday’s hearing. Grammer had requested that he be placed in the program to avoid trial on the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison, prosecutors said.

“It’s a foolish error” not to have taken part in the program, Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrew W. Diamond said. “This is a good program for first offenders, for people who want to clean up their lives without a criminal conviction.”

Grammer was driving east on Riverside Drive near Whitsett Avenue on April 14, 1988, when he was pulled over by police because his license plate tags had expired, authorities said.

The actor was arrested on the drug charge after a packet containing about a quarter of a gram of cocaine worth about $25 fell from his pocket as he sat in a patrol car on the way to the police station, authorities said.

On Wednesday, Judge Aviva K. Bobb denied a request by Grammer’s attorney, Robert L. Diamond, to suspend the bench warrant until his client returns to Los Angeles from a trip.

Grammer, who had been free on his own recognizance, was also ordered to post the $7,500 bail set after his arrest.

It was the second time that Grammer missed a court appearance on the drug charge. He showed up two days late in October for a hearing on whether he should be allowed to participate in the drug program. Diamond said at the time that his client was confused about the date of the hearing and on whether he had to be present.

“It’s the same thing he did last time,” Bobb said Wednesday. “I see no reason to revoke the bench warrant this time.”

Diamond said he did not know where his client was. He said Grammer might have failed to enroll in the drug program because he believed his attendance at an alcoholic rehabilitation program--ordered after his drunk-driving conviction--also met the requirements of the drug program.

In addition to missing the two drug charge hearings, Grammer failed to attend two hearings after his arrest in 1987 for drunk driving, court records show. Bench warrants for his arrest were issued after each absence. The first warrant was withdrawn after he posted $1,500 bail.

The most recent warrant in that case was issued Feb. 6 after Grammer missed a hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court to show that he had completed 10 days of community service and had graduated from the three-month alcohol program. The warrant is still in effect, court records showed.

On Aug. 10, 1989, Municipal Judge Lloyd Nash ordered Grammer to perform the community service as a penalty for failing to show up in court to prove that he was enrolled in the alcohol rehabilitation program, court records show.

Grammer was arrested July 17, 1987, after Los Angeles police officers saw his Cadillac weaving on Fulton Avenue in Van Nuys. His blood-alcohol level, tested after his arrest, was 0.18%--nearly twice the 0.1% legal definition of drunkenness in effect at the time, court records show.

Grammer pleaded no contest to drunk driving on July 13, 1988, and was sentenced to three years probation. He was also ordered to pay a $390 fine and attend the alcohol program.