Judge tells Lohan to speed up community work

Video: Lohan to judge: I can't afford therapy

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   >>> let's begin with troubled actress lindsay lohan in hot water again. this time she's saying she has money problems as well. nbc's aditi roy has more on this.

   >> good morning, matt. it was lohan 's sixth time in front of a judge this year alone on what seems to be a typical day of the star of " mean girls " and "the parent trap " she was once again reprimanded by a judge for not fulfilling her probation, and she was hit by another lawsuit. a familiar sight, lindsay lohan back in court on thursday. this time for a progress report in front of the judge who was less than satisfied with lohan 's efforts to meet her probation requirements.

   >> i will not take into consideration, sorry, couldn't do it, i was on the set, on the john gotti movie.

   >> at issue, community service . since april lohan has served just four out of 60 court mandated days t a women's shelter and more. a commitment she must meet within a year.

   >> trust me, she will be held to that deadline.

   >> reporter: another requirement, psychiatric help. lohan 's attorney said her client couldn't afford it.

   >> she was working with a psychiatrist at ucla and the reason that that treatment ended was for financial reasons.

   >> reporter: that argument didn't sway the judge.

   >> she does have the means. maybe she knows somebody who can help out.

   >> reporter: online reports immediately question the star's claims of being broke. pointing out the price tag of her designer christian lieu have it on the shoes, roughly $1,000.

   >> lindsay lohan made the classic dispense move, i can't afford therapy. the problem is that lindsay lohan is not the classic defendant. you can afford therapy when you're strutting you're louis vuittons to court.

   >> reporter: it's just the latest since her dui arrest four years ago, begging the question, could lohan end up spending more time behind bars?

   >> when someone is on probation it means if they do anything to break the law or cause any problems, that that could bring their old case back up.

   >> reporter: on thursday, lohan was also slapped with a civil lawsuit from dawn bradley, an employee at the betty ford center who claims lohan assaulted her. criminal charges in the case were dropped by prosecutors. there was no comment from lohan 's attorney or pub bliss cyst regarding the civil suit . the judge required that lohan has been in rehab five times since 2007 , psychological counseling within 21 days . her lawyer says that will happen, and if it does, the actress won't have to report to court again in the october.

   >> savannah guthrie is "today's" legal correspondent. before we get to the nuts and boat bolts of her situation, if she were jane doe , would she be having all of these public check-ups?

   >> i don't think we could be covering it.

   >> would it be happening? would it be a phone call with a probation officer.

   >> it's not typical to be in court in california. but you're right, the more typical for most criminals is to talk to a probation officer, not a judge.

   >> she's completed 33 hours of 480 mandated hours of community service . is she in trouble on this?

   >> she's headed in that direction. clearly, the judge is trying to basically give a shot across the bow and say, i don't want to hear in a year that you didn't have time to do the community service . there's really no reason right now why lindsay lohan cannot be chipping away at this big block of community service she's owed and the judge is making it clear she's expecting it to be done.

   >> this idea where she's required to also get psychological counseling, all people agree it should not be group counseling, it should be one-on-one. this is not probably going to fly with her saying i can't afford it right now. also, it let's people know how seriously she's taking all this because, clearly, she can use this.

   >> look. we could all agree, everyone can use a little bit of therapy. lindsay lohan is certainly no xwep exception. the judge says she has to comply with it under the terms of her probation. if she fails to do this, she will be in violation. i'm surprised the defense attorney tried to pull off the poverty excuse because there is a way, she can get some kind of psychological counseling, i think, that's not going to be an excuse that's going to be very persuasive for the judge.

   >> she got word on thursday saying dawn bradley, the former rehab worker from betty ford center is suing her for what she claims her injuries suffered from an altercation in december. prosecutors did not press any charges on this. and now here's this woman bringing this civil suit , so is this -- is this a money grab?

   >> yes, it's a money suit for damages but i think you raise the point i would have raised which is remember this is a case that criminal prosecutors declined to prosecute, may say something about the strength of the case even though the burden in civil court is lower. this is a woman asking for a million dollars in damages, including a claim of post traumatic dress dstress disorder.

   >> lindsay lohan could be what we call a target defendant. thanks so much. appreciate it.

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