The legal woes are stacking up for Lamar Odom, and he could use some help. So he went for the big guns when hiring a lawyer this week following last Friday’s arrest on a drunken driving charge.
Odom isn’t getting just any Los Angeles bigwig, though — he’s staying within the sports celebrity family for his legal help. TMZ reports that Odom has hired Robert Shapiro, the lawyer best known for defending O.J. Simpson in his infamous trial.
The NBA veteran was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence when California Highway Patrol saw him driving erratically on the 101 Freeway.
Odom, who has been plagued by reports of marital problems recently, was arrested at 3:54 a.m. and booked in Van Nuys at 5:01 a.m., jail records say.
According to the California Highway Patrol report, Odom was driving eastbound on the 101 Freeway in a “serpentine manner” at speeds of about 50 mph. Authorities tried to pull him over, but weren’t successful at first. When he eventually came to a stop, Odom showed “objective signs of intoxication and was unable to perform field sobriety tests as explained and demonstrated,” according to the report.
Odom also refused to do the chemical test at the station, which under California law means that his license will be suspended for a year.
“He did the one thing you should never not do: refuse the chemical tests,” California Highway Patrol Officer Leland Tang said.
Odom was released Friday morning after spending about 3½ hours in jail.
