TMZ has learned Jesse James' ex-wife, Janine Lindemulder, is going to court to wrestle custody from Jesse ... and the trigger was the Michelle McGee/Sandra Bullock meltdown.
We've learned Janine has filed legal papers in their custody case involving six-year-old daughter Sunny. Currently Jesse has full custody of Sunny. Janine lives in a halfway house, after being locked up for tax evasion.
We're told until this week Janine knew she didn't stand a chance of gaining even partial custody from Jesse. She felt Sandra Bullock was such a stabilizing family influence, a judge would shut her down.
But Janine now believes Sandra will divorce Jesse and she feels she has a shot at getting some custodial rights.
Britney Spears was supposed to show up in court today but her appearance has been delayed -- however, the end game for the conservatorship may now be in sight.
Britney was supposed to sit down with Judge Reva Goetz at 1:30 today to talk about her progress, but her appearance has been put off because, we're told, the parties need more time before the meeting.
You don't need a PhD in psychology to see how much progress Britney has made in the last year.
As we first reported, daddy Jamie Spears and others have been hoping to wind the conservatorship down mid-year ... but no date has been set.
The judge wants to sit down with Britney for a second time this year, but it's premature until the judge gets more info.
No date has been set for Brit's next command performance before the judge.
Gangster rapper The Game doesn't want to be referred to as a gangster rapper anymore -- but it's not because he's changing professions ... it's because he's trying to win a court case.
The gangster rapper's legal move is part of a lawsuit that was filed against him in 2008 -- in which he's being sued for allegedly punching a guy during a pickup basketball game and then pulling a gun on him.
In the new documents, the gangster rapper is asking the judge to 86 all references to him being a gangster or gangster rapper during the trial ... because he's afraid it would prejudice the jury against him.
In the docs, the gangster rapper also doesn't want any mention of his lyrics during the trial ... because they contain references to violence and profanity.
The prosecution in Charlie Sheen's Aspen case is not looking for jail time, but wants Charlie to either cop a plea to a felony or stand trial ... sources tell TMZ.
As we first reported, Charlie is more than willing to plead guilty or no contest to a misdemeanor with no jail time. And we're told Charlie wants the case dismissed outright at the end of the probationary period.
So the hang-up in cutting a deal is not jail time -- it's whether Charlie pleads to a misdemeanor or a felony. Charlie's position -- prosecutors in Aspen routinely accept misdemeanor pleas for these cases.
But we're told the Aspen D.A. believes Charlie has already gotten one free bite of the apple, because in 1997 he pled no contest to misdemeanor battery in a domestic violence case involving then-girlfriend Brittany Ashland.
We're told the Aspen D.A. feels -- given Charlie's prior -- a felony is appropriate.
Shaquille O'Neal and his estranged wife, Shaunie have reached a settlement in their divorce ... TMZ has learned.
Shaunie's mega-lawyer, Sorrell Trope, tells TMZ Shaq and Shaunie have reached agreement on all terms of the divorce, including property, custody and support.
Under the agreement, the Florida courts will have jurisdiction to officially divorce the couple. In addition, a Florida judge will handle any issues that may arise involving property division and spousal support.
Trope tells TMZ the California courts will have jurisdiction over any issues related to child custody.
As we first reported, Shaunie filed for legal separation in California back in November, just days after moving to L.A. with their kids. We've learned Shaunie just filed a petition to dismiss the separation action.
DMX appeared in court for the gazillionth time yesterday -- and went absolutely ballistic after the judge left the courtroom.
Visibly and audibly ticked that a photog was allowed in court, a fidgety DMX waited for his hearing to begin -- and after it was over, he went off.
Looking right at the camera, DMX starting raving "I'm the only one got arrested today ... f**king c**ksuckers do it every time man ... I get my rights violated but I gotta be quiet about it ... f**king bitch man."
The rapper is currently being held on no bond -- he'll be back in court March 16.
The Dennis Hopper divorce was back in court today, and it's apparent Victoria Hopper, Dennis' estranged wife, will not leave her home without a fight.
According to court docs, Victoria must leave Dennis' compound on March 15. But in legal papers filed today and obtained by TMZ, Victoria claims the prenup she signed does require her to vacate one of the homes on the property, but she says she's living in a different, freestanding home on the property so she's allowed to stay.
Victoria also said in court she's broke and needs money, stat.
And, Victoria says in her legal docs, she believes Dennis is getting ready to die. She says, "I believe in contemplation of death [Dennis Hopper] may be intending to remove me as a beneficiary of any kind..."
David Letterman's extortionist just pled guilty to one count of attempted grand larceny in the second degree.
Robert Halderman was just sentenced to 6 months in jail, 5 years probation and 1,000 hours of community service.
Under the terms of the deal, Halderman will serve 500 hours of community service in New York and the rest in Connecticut.
In the courtroom, Halderman said, "I have great remorse and sincerely apologize to David Letterman and Stephanie Birkitt. I attempted to extort $2 million from David Letterman." Halderman called it "a thinly veiled threat."
Wayne Newton's wife is trying to separate herself from her husband's major money issues -- she just made a legal move to keep her stuff from being seized by a man who Wayne owes in a big way.
TMZ obtained court documents filed by Kathleen McCrone Newton in which she declares that all sorts of stuff she keeps at Wayne's Las Vegas estate -- like art, clothes, jewelry, instruments and even a library -- are hers ... and hers alone.
In the docs, filed Tuesday in Nevada, Kathleen claims she's staking claim to all of her crap because Wayne's former pilot Monty Ward is trying to collect a $500,000 judgement against the singer -- and just last week, Ward sent a moving truck over to Newton's place to try and collect Wayne's assets.
Now, Kathleen wants to make sure Monty doesn't take her crap away when Ward's truck comes back to collect again ... whenever that may be.
The singer responsible for "Cherry Pie" is a wanted man once again -- but this time it's a judge who wants an audience with him instead of a bunch of groupies that reek of Vidal Sassoon hairspray.
TMZ has learned a warrant was ironically issued for former Warrant singer Jani Lane last week, after he failed to show up to two court appearances connected to his 2009 DUI conviction.
We're told Lane was scheduled to appear in court on February 23 to show the judge he's completed his alcohol classes and community service -- but he never showed.
The court date was rescheduled for February 24 ... but Lane missed that one too.
We spoke to Lane's lawyer, who says the singer has been in the hospital and won't be able to make it to court until next week.
Lil Wayne won't be going to jail today after all -- his hearing was just postponed due to a fire in the courthouse where he was scheduled to be sentenced.
We're told the fire occurred in the basement of the Manhattan Criminal Court building at 10:29 AM ET sending smoke throughout the building and causing a complete evacuation.
The fire was under control by 11:55 AM ET -- but the damage was done ... because Lil Wayne's attorney says the courthouse has now been shut down for the rest of the day.
Wayne -- who pled guilty to attempted weapons possession last year -- was supposed to be sentenced last month ... but the rapper was able to delay the hearing until today so he could have dental surgery on his grill.
Wayne's attorney tells TMZ the rapper has no idea his sentencing has been postponed, because he's on a plane right now.
UPDATE 2:12 PM ET: A court official tells TMZ Wayne will be sentenced tomorrow ... unless the hand of God comes down and saves him yet again.
The man allegedly at the center of the Jon Cryer murder plot is a contractor who was part of a drug smuggling ring in Mexico .... this according to the estranged husband of Jon Cryer's ex-wife.
TMZ has obtained legal documents in the ongoing divorce case between Cryer's ex-wife, Sarah Trigger, and her estranged husband, David Dickey. As we first reported, a man named Eddie Sanchez was allegedly asked by Trigger to murder Cryer and Dickey. In fact, Dickey says Sanchez flatly told him that.
So who is Eddie Sanchez? We know he was Trigger's boyfriend at the time she allegedly asked him to kill Cryer and Dickey. According to Dickey, Sanchez was a contractor who worked on his house when he lived with Trigger. Dickey also says in legal docs, Trigger told him, "Eddie used to run drugs that were smuggled from the border to Mexican gangs which is how he bought his house in Mexico."
As we first reported, Trigger allegedly "...asked Mr. Sanchez if he would kill the pair [Cryer and Dickey], or if he would not, inquiring whether she could speak with Mr. Sanchez's father about this issue."
Trigger's lawyer claims Sanchez left a voicemail for Trigger's mom last month, in which he said Sarah had done nothing wrong.
Charlie Sheen will not have his bail revoked because of his latest bout with substance abuse, sources tell TMZ.
One of the conditions of his bail: Charlie cannot use drugs or consume alcohol.
As we have already reported, Charlie slipped before entering rehab, but we're told unless new evidence surfaces, there will be no attempt to revoke Charlie's bail.
Former NBA star Jayson Williams was just sentenced to five years in prison for the 2002 shooting death of his limo driver, Costas Christofi, and will be available for parole after 18 months.
During the hearing, Christofi's sister held up a photo of him, while a rep for the family stood up and said Jayson had never apologized to the family for killing Christofi. The rep begged the judge to make Jayson serve all five years in prison without probation.
Jayson eventually stood up, teary-eyed, and apologized to them ... along with his own family, church and the NBA.
Jayson was eventually handcuffed and taken out of the courtroom. We're told he'll be taken to the Hunterdon County Correctional Facility ... where he could remain for weeks until he's moved to his permanent lodging.
We were live inside Somerset County Courthouse in New Jersey during Jayson's sentencing this morning, below are the highlights from the hearing ... video to follow.
UPDATE 9:35 AM ET: It has begun. The prosecutor just asked the judge to sentence Jayson to 5 years behind bars with a minimum of 18 months with parole. The prosecutor told the judge Jayson has a "dark side."
"America's Best Dance Crew" judge Shane Sparks had a date in court today in Los Angeles for his child molestation case -- but the D.A. bailed on the arraignment and the judge was pissed!
The judge still gave the D.A. until next Tuesday to file a response to Sparks' motion to dismiss the case.
Outside court, Sparks was confident he'd beat the rap and "take over the dance world" soon.
The case was continued until March.
UPDATE: We spoke to D.A. who missed the hearing, who said she had another case at the same time and it's all just a misunderstanding.
Britney Spears was supposed to show up in court today but her appearance has been delayed -- however, the end game for the conservatorship may now be in sight.
Gangster rapper The Game doesn't want to be referred to as a gangster rapper anymore -- but it's not because he's changing professions ... it's because he's trying to win a court case.
The prosecution in Charlie Sheen's Aspen case is not looking for jail time, but wants Charlie to either cop a plea to a felony or stand trial ... sources tell TMZ. 
Shaquille O'Neal and his estranged wife, Shaunie have reached a settlement in their divorce ... TMZ has learned.
The singer responsible for "Cherry Pie" is a wanted man once again -- but this time it's a judge who wants an audience with him instead of a bunch of groupies that reek of Vidal Sassoon hairspray. 
Charlie Sheen will not have his bail revoked because of his latest bout with substance abuse, sources tell TMZ.
