No Sign of Spears at Custody Hearing

Britney Spears was nowhere to be seen today as a court hearing convened
in the pop star's child custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline.



Federline and his lawyer were on hand as Superior Court Commissioner
Scott Gordon began the hearing, which was scheduled after Gordon
earlier this month suspended Spears' right to visit her sons.



Gordon allowed reporters into the courtroom for about one minute before he announced that the hearing was being closed.



The commissioner granted a motion from Spears' attorneys to quash a
subpoena, but there was no information given about what the subpoena
involved or to whom it had been issued.



A throng of photographers and reporters waited outside the downtown
courthouse to see if Spears would come to what one attorney described
as "the most significant hearing in the case so far." Law enforcement
officers watched over the scene.



But Spears has had trouble making recent legal dates: On Dec. 12, she
called in sick for a court-ordered deposition, then arrived nearly two
hours late at an attorney's office on its rescheduled date, Jan. 3.



Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, told The Associated Press on
Sunday that he didn't know if Spears would come at today's hearing, and
he indicated that it would be important for her to be there to take the
opportunity to try to persuade the court restore visitation.



"You can't phone this one in," he said.



Police and emergency medical technicians who were summoned to Spears'
home the night of Jan. 3 in a standoff involving her refusal to return
the boys to ex-husband Federline were expected to testify today,
probably behind closed doors, Kaplan said.



Kaplan said he knew it was only a temporary measure when he obtained
emergency court orders two weeks ago granting sole physical and legal
custody to Federline.



Police were called by a court-appointed monitor on Jan. 3 when Spears
refused to hand over Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2, to
Federline's security guard. She locked herself in a room with one of
the boys.



Police officers spent hours at the house and then called Fire
Department paramedics who placed her on a gurney and hauled her away to
a hospital with a crowd of paparazzi in pursuit. Spears left
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center a day and half later.



Police have released no information about why Spears was taken to the
hospital. TV's "Dr. Phil" McGraw told celebrity news programs he was
with Spears as she was released, saying she was in "dire" need of
medical and psychological help. That drew a rebuke from Spears'
relatives.



The day after the incident, Kaplan presented papers to the court
commissioner, who awarded sole legal and physical custody of the boys
to Federline and suspended Spears' visitation rights.



Kaplan said if visitation is restored, it would be under more restrictions than those originally imposed by Gordon.