A court commissioner ordered a Probation Department report Monday to help determine whether former quarterback Todd Marinovich ends up in prison for a missed Drug Court hearing or continues in rehab, a prosecutor said.
Marinovich, 39, has been held without bail since his arrest Friday and will continue in that status pending his next hearing before Orange County Superior Court Commissioner James Odriozola on May 4, said Deputy District Attorney Anne Selin.
Deputy Public Defender Kim Stevens could not be reached for comment.
Marinovich was arrested for being a no-show March 30 at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach for a progress review on his rehabilitation. Missing the hearing could be considered a probation violation and land him in prison on the charges for which he was arrested in 2007 -- felony possession of methamphetamine and misdemeanor possession of a syringe and resisting arrest, Selin said.
The prosecutor said there are four phases attached to going through the Drug Court program in order to reach a point where a participant "graduates" and drug charges are dismissed.
Marinovich was in the second phase, she said.
Missing court on any felony will prompt an arrest warrant, and that is what happened last week, she said.
Participants must appear in court at least monthly, and in some stages must appear weekly, Selin said.
When sentencing Marinovich two years ago, Odriozola decided to give him one more shot at addiction treatment, even though he had been through similar programs before.
Marinovich was ordered to spend a year at the Spencer Recovery Center in Laguna Beach. He was also given five years probation and could get three years and four months in prison if found guilty of the latest allegation.
Marinovich has been in and out of trouble with drugs since 1991, when he was arrested while still at USC, where he was a star quarterback. He went on to play briefly in the NFL.
