Do the Math on Downey Sentence, Lawyers Say

Has Robert Downey Jr. paid his debt to society?

His lawyers think so. They say it’s paid in full and then some.

And on Thursday they will ask the state Court of Appeal in Los Angeles to set the actor free.

Santa Monica lawyer Robert Waters will lead the charge, arguing that Downey already has served his time. He contends that the Malibu judge who gave Downey the max, sending him to the big house for three years, made legal and mathematical errors in calculating the sentence.

Downey, you might recall, is the painfully talented actor who’s as famous for his drug addiction and skirmishes with the law as he is for his roles in films such as “Less Than Zero,” “Chaplin” and “The Wonder Boys.” Since his incarceration, he’s been the subject of Internet haiku contests and a growing “Free Robert Downey Jr.” movement.

His troubles with the law began in 1996, when Downey was arrested in Malibu for driving under the influence. He had drugs and an unloaded pistol in his pickup truck. He got probation, which he violated three times--most notably when he passed out in the bed of a Broad Beach neighbor. Fed up with such antics, Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira ordered Downey to prison last Aug. 5. He’s serving the time at the notorious Corcoran State Prison.

Downey’s lawyers say Mira made several mistakes: He never stated whether the misdemeanor sentences should run concurrently or sequentially; he misread the law on whether the misdemeanor sentences could be tacked on to the felony sentence and he failed to credit Downey with time served in a lock-down drug rehab program.

Under Mira’s math, Downey will become eligible for release Nov. 2; if the actor’s lawyers are correct, he became eligible back in February, court papers say.

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STICKS AND STONES: What is it about Cher and the people who work on her home construction projects? Not only do they tend to sue her, they also call her names in colorfully written court papers.

First Cher was branded as a “spoiled and manipulative entertainer” in a 1997 breach of contract suit by the designer of her Malibu dream house. That suit was dismissed. Now, a former office manager for her home remodeling project calls her a “temperamental celebrity” in a Superior Court suit.

Salvador Sampino seeks at least $1.5 million in damages, alleging wrongful termination, harassment and defamation.

Court papers charge that Cher spent “millions of dollars to build a coastal fortress, violated California law and sought to coerce others to assist in violation of wage laws, the exploitation of undocumented workers and the intimidation to silence those in her employment.”

Them’s fightin’ words.

Sampino also alleges that Cher looked the other way while he was harassed over his presumed homosexuality.

In a statement, Cher denies that she employed Sampino and says she had no idea that any dispute existed between him and her remodeling contractor. Her lawyer says the suit is “without merit.”

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RAT PACK OR PACK RAT? Somewhere in Los Angeles is a vault containing the life’s work of “Rat Pack” actor Peter Lawford, who died in 1984. But nobody’s been paying the rent.

And so, Editing Film Center, a film storage company, is asking a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to decide who’s responsible for the prints and negatives of 49 episodes of the 1950s television series “Dear Phoebe” and other Lawford vehicles such as “Johnny Cool,” “Hallo Bill,” “Billie” and “Salt and Pepper.”

The company says in its suit that it hasn’t been paid storage fees for “several years.” When it served a notice of abandonment, it received conflicting instructions from Lawford’s widow; his ex-wife, Patricia Kennedy Lawford; and his son, Christopher.

The suit asks the court to order the relatives to resolve any differences and to release it from liability.

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SORRY, CHARLIE: Charlie Sheen is suing a luxury car dealer in Arizona--again--over money the actor says he’s owed from a complex car deal involving a Lamborghini and a Mercedes-Benz.

Sheen says in his suit that the dispute began nearly four years ago when he offered to sell his 1992 Lamborghini Diablo to Verdone Motor Sports Ltd. of Phoenix for $110,000.

A Mercedes-Benz S600 caught his eye, and Sheen thought it would make a perfect gift for his mother. But she decided she didn’t need such a fancy car and he returned it, according to court papers.

By that time, the dealer had sold the Lamborghini. Sheen’s suit says he never received a check for his car. Instead, he said, the dealer insisted that some of the proceeds from the sale be used to buy the Mercedes.

Sheen’s lawyer, Marty Singer, said Sheen initially sued in Superior Court in Santa Monica, but later decided to “pursue the dealer in Arizona, where his assets are located.”

The actor, whose self-mocking cameo in “Being John Malkovich” is an absolute hoot, says the dealer now has paid back part of the money but still owes $35,000. The latest suit, filed in Maricopa County, alleges fraud and breach of contract and seeks punitive damages.

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YO, THUNDER THIGHS: We just knew it was too good to be true. There is no cure for cellulite.

The Federal Trade Commission filed suit in federal court in Florida against Rexall Sundown Inc., the maker of Cellasene.

The suit accuses the company of making false claims about Cellasene’s ability to eliminate cottage cheese thighs. The company also falsely claims to have conducted clinical tests in Europe, the suit says. The FTC seeks a permanent injunction barring the company from making the claims. Cellasene is also the subject of a proposed class action suit in federal court in Los Angeles.

The five-week Cellasene regimen costs consumers about $240. Sales of Cellasene in 1999 were estimated at $54 million, according to the FTC.

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Times staff writer Carla Hall contributed to this column.