Halle Berry Faces Misdemeanor Count in Accident

Halle Berry’s legal worries eased somewhat Friday, when the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office opted to charge her with a misdemeanor rather than a felony for leaving the scene of the Feb. 23 accident in which she and the other driver were injured.

In charging the 33-year-old actress, prosecutors took into account that she apparently was left dazed by the accident and that she reported it to a police officer when she arrived at a hospital for treatment, a source in the district attorney’s office said.

Berry, who starred in the film “Bulworth” and won a Golden Globe for her title role in the HBO movie “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,” faces up to a year in jail and/or a $10,000 fine if convicted, the source said. A felony hit-and-run charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in state prison.

Her lawyer, Blair Berk, said in a statement that Berry was “obviously pleased by the D.A.’s determination that felony charges should be rejected and are not justified in connection with this unfortunate traffic accident.”

Neither the district attorney’s office nor Berk disclosed when Berry would surrender to police.

The county Sheriff’s Department has said Berry was driving a rented Chevrolet Blazer when she ran a red light and crashed into another car on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. Neither alcohol nor drugs were a factor, the department found.

Berry suffered a gash to her head that required 20 stitches, and the woman driving the other vehicle broke her wrist.

The woman, Hetal Raythatha, has since filed a civil suit against Berry seeking damages.