VAN NUYS : Judge Denies Hearing on Sellers’ Bail Status

Victoria Sellers was sent back to jail Wednesday after a judge declined to hold a hearing on her bail status.

Defense attorney Barry Hammond had asked Superior Court Judge Stanley M. Weisberg to free Sellers, contending that a Municipal Court judge had illegally jailed her without bail.

But bail was set at $100,000 on Tuesday. Weisberg said he would not overrule Municipal Court Judge Michael S. Luros without knowing what evidence he had heard. Weisberg also noted that Hammond’s request was outdated.

“This was just an attempt to get another judge to relitigate the same issues without having all the information,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol Fisch said.

Hammond said he would seek another hearing before Weisberg. He added that Sellers cannot afford the high bail, which is 10 times the amount usually set for the charge against her, a single felony count of receiving stolen property.

“To set bail in this extreme amount is just cruel,” Hammond said.

Sellers, the 29-year-old daughter of late British comic actor Peter Sellers and actress Britt Eckland, was charged after police investigating a series of armed robberies found stolen jewelry in her dresser drawers and under her bed. The discovery was made during a search of a talent agent’s Northridge house, where Sellers lived with two of the robbery suspects. Police have identified the suspects as Sellers’ boyfriend and bodyguard, and the talent agent also has been charged with receiving stolen property.

Luros ordered Sellers jailed last week when she failed to appear for an arranged fingerprinting and booking.