US judge confirms Lohan trial set for March 18

A judge refused to drop two of the three criminal charges against US actress Lindsay Lohan and confirmed Friday that the troubled starlet's trial would take place in Los Angeles on March 18. The 26-year-old, who has lived in New York since last summer, did not appear at her latest court hearing, leaving attorney Mark Heller to address the judge. Lohan was charged in November with obstructing a police officer, giving false testimony and driving recklessly, after an accident in which a Porsche hit a truck on the Pacific Coast Highway in June. If found guilty, she could be jailed for between three months and a year, because at the time of the crash she was already on probation for a shoplifting conviction for stealing a necklace from a jewelry shop in 2011. Heller had sought dismissal of the obstruction and false testimony charges, filing a motion stating that proper procedures had not been followed when Lohan was questioned at a Santa Monica hospital after the car accident. "The Santa Monica Police Department officer was not acting or engaged in the lawful performance of his duties, and was acting unlawfully," the motion said. But Judge James Dabney refused the request and confirmed the March 18 trial. Although Lohan won praise for her performance in the 2004 film "Mean Girls" as a teenager, the former Disney star has become better known for her drug problems, legal woes and chaotic social life than for her acting. Her 2012 portrayal of Elizabeth Taylor in "Liz and Dick," about the late star's turbulent relationship with actor Richard Burton, was panned by critics.