Published: January 05, 2008 02:43 pm            

Hospitalized Spears loses custody of children to Federline; visitation rights suspended

LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears was apparently spending a second day in a hospital Saturday, the result of a bizarre standoff that brought police to her house and led a judge to award ex-husband Kevin Federline custody of their two sons.

A court commissioner on Friday gave Federline sole physical and legal custody of 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James, and suspended Spears' visitation rights.

Commissioner Scott Gordon's ruling came a day after Spears was hauled away from her home by paramedics after police had to intervene when she refused to return the children to Federline after a court-monitored visit.

Gordon ordered another hearing to be held Jan. 14.

Federline had previously been awarded temporary custody of the boys because the 26-year-old pop singer has defied court orders, resulting in limitations on her visitation.

"I'm not happy about any of these events," Federline attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said when he left the closed-door emergency hearing Friday afternoon. "There's no winners here."

Kaplan said he went to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after Spears was admitted, but he declined to provide any details about the pop star, her ex-husband or their sons.

Los Angeles police Officer Sara Faden said Saturday that Spears was hospitalized "for her own welfare," but that she had no additional details.

Cedars-Sinai spokeswoman Simi Singer refused comment Saturday, citing patient confidentiality rules.

The drama began around 8 p.m. Thursday when officers were called to her home to help resolve a dispute over her refusal to turn the children over to Federline as dictated by their custody agreement.

It took two to three hours to resolve the conflict, Los Angeles police Officer Ana Aguirre said.

"Police resolved the conflict," Aguirre said. "Both children were turned over to her ex-husband Kevin Federline for custody, and she was in fact taken to a local hospital for medical treatment."

Early police reports said officers thought Spears might have been under the influence of some substance, but Aguirre said there was no evidence of that.

"Our understanding is that was not the case," she said.

Officers at the scene determined that paramedics "needed to be called" but it was unclear why, she said.

"We're not aware of any type of injuries that she sustained" and she was not combative with authorities, Aguirre said.

Spears wasn't arrested in connection with the custody dispute, she said.

"There was no actual crime that was involved," Aguirre said.

Spears and Federline married in October 2004. Her life has spiraled downward since their divorce in July. She has been photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and out-of-control in public. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and spent a month in rehab.

She had hoped to regain her pop crown with a much-hyped performance at MTV's Video Music Awards in September, but it was universally panned by fans and critics.

Still, Spears latest album, "Blackout," earned positive reviews when it was released in October and brought Spears her first No. 1 hit in years, "Gimme More."







Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

        

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