Actor Emile Hirsch has pleaded guilty to misdemeanour assault after being accused of putting a female studio executive in a chokehold at a Utah nightclub during the Sundance Film Festival.
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According to reports, he avoided a maximum penalty of five years in jail by entering a guilty plea with prosecutors.
The “Into the Wild” star also was fined $4,750 and sentenced to 50 hours of community service for attacking executive Daniele Bernfeld at a disco in Park City in January, at a hearing in the Utah city that hosts the famous festival. The more severe charge of felony assault will be dropped if he completes all of that.
Hirsch was taken to the to begin serving his sentence.
She added: “If a violent attack in front of a roomful of witnesses can be labeled a misdemeanor and dismissed, what of women who are assaulted while alone in hallways or bathrooms, or behind the closed doors of their own homes?”
“That was a terrifying experience”, Summit County Attorney Robert Hilder said.
Hilder, a former state judge, said he thinks the jail time will affect Hirsch.
Hirsch was at Sundance for the premier of “Ten Thousand Saints”, a film co-starring Ethan Hawke.
He must not use alcohol or illegal drugs and could serve a full year in jail if he violates the plea deal.
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Hirsch has maintained that he has no recollection of the evening or the incident because he had consumed a lot of alcohol and as a result checked into rehab in February and has remained sober since concluding his rehab stint.
