The Mentalist star Simon Baker has avoided a conviction despite pleading guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol.
As reported by NBC News, Baker appeared at the Mullumbimby Local Court in New South Wales, Australia, on Wednesday, September 11, where he admitted to drunk driving in an incident on July 20. He was released on a nine-month good behavior bond with no conviction recorded.
In a statement from the New South Wales Police, obtained by People, police stopped a man driving a gray Tesla on Booyung Road at Nashua on July 20 at around 2:10 am. after he was seen driving “in an alleged erratic manner.”
“Officers spoke to the driver and sole occupant, a 55-year-old man, before subjecting him to a roadside breath test, which returned a positive result,” the police stated. “Due to an extensive system outage across the country, the man was subjected to a sobriety test that was conducted at the scene.”
The statement continued, “He was subsequently issued a field court attendance notice for attempt drive while under influence of alcohol and drive under the influence and is due to appear at Mullumbimby Local Court on 4 September 2024.”
In a report from 9 News, Baker was described as “remorseful” by Magistrate Kathy Crittenden, who deemed that the actor was unlikely to commit the crime again. He was released without conviction.
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“(Baker) was very polite and co-operative… extremely remorseful for his actions,” Crittenden said of Baker, per 9 News. “The court has little difficulty in finding that Mr Baker is remorseful for his offending and it is unlikely he will offend again.”
Baker played fraudulent psychic Patrick Jane on the CBS drama The Mentalist from 2008 to 2015, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series nomination.
After The Mentalist ended, Baker disappeared from television until 2022, when he appeared in an episode of the Apple TV+ anthology series Roar. More recently, he starred in Netflix’s Australian coming-of-age limited series Boy Swallows Universe. He will next be seen in Taika Waititi‘s Klara and the Sun, an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel of the same name.
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