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Spears Pal Strikes Back Against Dad

Ex-manager asks court to spring Britney from family control

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 16, 2008 7:34 AM CST
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(Newser) – Britney Spears' former manager and pal Sam Lutfi is trying to liberate her from her family's control by getting her case moved from Los Angeles to federal court, E! reports.  He's arguing in a petition that Jamie Spears is unfit to oversee his daughter's life and that she's being unfairly denied the right to see friends, make phone calls, drive her car, receive mail, and have access to her money. "Sam is at war with Jamie. This is his first strike," a Spears insider told E! yesterday.

Those are pretty much the same charges her family lobbed at Lufti earlier in getting a restraining order against him, which he says has never been served. Observers say it's a long shot. "The fed court will not take jurisdiction of this case. That is so far-fetched," said one lawyer. "Anyone who's under a conservatorship can argue that they've lost their civil rights," points out another. "That's what a conservatorship does."  "She has basically conveyed that she doesn't want to be in her family's control," says Lufti's PR guy.

Singer Britney Spears poses on the press line at the Scandinavian Style Mansion party in Los Angeles in this Dec. 1, 2007 file photo. A Los Angeles court commissioner has extended the conservatorship of Britney Spears. Commissioner Reva Goetz told Spears' father James and a battery of lawyers Thursday, Feb....
Singer Britney Spears poses on the press line at the Scandinavian Style Mansion party in Los Angeles in this Dec. 1, 2007 file photo. A Los Angeles court commissioner has extended the conservatorship...   (Associated Press)
In this video frame grab release by AP Television, Sam Lutfi is shown leaving UCLA medical center after visiting Britney Spears on Jan.31, 2008. A restraining order against Lutfi portrays him as a Svengali figure who held her a virtual hostage in her home, drugged her, took over her...
In this video frame grab release by AP Television, Sam Lutfi is shown leaving UCLA medical center after visiting Britney Spears on Jan.31, 2008. A restraining order against Lutfi portrays him as a Svengali...   (Associated Press)
This photo, dated January 14 2008, shows pop star Britney Spears before her second hospitalization, during which her father was given conservatorship. Now, Britney's ex-manager Sam Lutfi is trying to get her case moved up to the federal level.
This photo, dated January 14 2008, shows pop star Britney Spears before her second hospitalization, during which her father was given conservatorship. Now, Britney's ex-manager Sam Lutfi is trying to...   (Getty Images)
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Britney Spears • federal courts • civil rights • Sam Lutfi • Jamie Spears • mental breakdown • conservatorship

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