It took a few weeks, but actress Lindsay Lohan found herself in trouble again — this time over the alcohol-detection bracelet a judge ordered her to wear.

According to sources, the device’s alarm sounded Sunday, the night Lohan was attending the MTV Movie Awards. It’s unclear why the device went off. Typically, the alarm sounds when the bracelet is tampered with or if the person wearing it consumes alcohol.

But it was enough for a Beverly Hills judge to haul prosecutors and Lohan’s attorneys into court Wednesday afternoon for a closed session.

Judge Marsha Revel issued an arrest warrant for Lohan, 23. To avoid being detained, Lohan posted $200,000 bail. Revel did not provide any specifics other than to say Lohan violated a court order not to consume alcohol and to wear an alcohol-detection device.


According to sources close to the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing, the alcohol-monitoring device on Lohan’s ankle sent a report indicating the presence of alcohol late Sunday or early Monday after the MTV Movie Awards. Lohan attended the awards and an after-party, wearing pants to cover the device.

Her attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, said in a statement that the monitoring device detected a small amount of alcohol, but that she could not verify its accuracy.

In court, however, the judge did not specify how Lohan violated the court order issued May 24 other than to say it was after she received an adverse report from the alcohol-detection ankle bracelet.

Lohan was not present in court. She issued several denials on her Twitter account that she had done anything wrong, and said the bracelet, known as a SCRAM, or Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor, should have detected nothing.


“My SCRAM wasn’t set off — It’s physically impossible considering I’ve (done) nothing for it to go off. All of these false (reports) are absolutely wrong.”

The ankle monitor issues an alert when it is tampered with or when the person wearing it drinks alcohol. The SCRAM device checks for traces of alcohol in the air above the user’s skin.

The device was fitted on Lohan’s ankle at the Beverly Hills courthouse. The judge ordered the device May 24 after Lohan the week before failed to show up for a mandatory progress review hearing on her probation.

Revel also ordered that Lohan weekly undergo random drug tests in Los Angeles and attend alcohol education classes. Lohan claimed that she was stuck in Cannes, France, after her passport was stolen.


richard.winton@latimes.com

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com