Joe Exotic does everything big, and clearly so does his new, massive legal team, that has produced a Texas-style video asking President Trump for a pardon, saying Joe is not only NOT GUILTY of putting a hit out on Carole Baskin, but he was actually FRAMED.
The video was shot and produced in Ft. Worth, and it features the bus TMZ showed you a few days ago that is wrapped in a plea to spring Joe from the prison, where we're told 1/3 of the inmates now have coronavirus.
The team is led by a super colorful figure -- Eric Love, a P.I. who is now the Lead Investigator and Executive Manager for all things Exotic.
The video makes it clear ... the legal team will attack on all fronts. They are appealing Joe's conviction and asking Trump for a pardon. They're also pursuing a malicious prosecution lawsuit against a bunch of folks involved in the criminal trial.
As we previously reported, there's evidence the alleged hitman had an ax to grind ... he told us his testimony against Joe was "payback" and he wishes he could have done more to hurt Joe. Those are markers of a biased witness.
There's also this ... the prosecutor in the case chose to throw in allegations Joe killed tigers. A lot of people think the prosecution's murder-for-hire case was weak, and the prosecutor threw in tiger-killing allegations just to dirty Joe up so the jury would hate him. Joe's legal team thinks that's a reversible error, as well as unethical.
We're guessing it's only a matter of time before that bus rolls up to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
4:08 PM PT -- 7/16 -- Soundgarden agreed to drop claims about the charity concert after Vicky's lawyers threatened to seek sanctions ... according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ.
UPDATE
1:16 PM PT -- A rep for Soundgarden tells TMZ, "Soundgarden’s goal is still the completion of their final studio album and they are pleased that after many requests Vicky’s attorneys last night finally offered an accounting of the profits from the Chris Cornell Tribute Concert. Soundgarden asks that Vicky now donate all of the remaining funds in her Foundation to causes that are important to all of us."
Chris Cornell's widow, Vicky, is threatening members of her late husband's band, accusing them of making a fortune off Chris' back and then viciously attacking her and her kids and screwing them out of what's rightly theirs.
Vicky's lawyer, legal pit bull Marty Singer, fired off a blistering letter to the remaining members of the group, expressing outrage at their latest legal move -- accusing Vicky of stealing money from the Chris Cornell Tribute Concert. Singer says the claim is BS, noting almost 2 million bucks went to charity and overhead was only $43k.
Singer also claims the tribute to Chris lined the pockets of the band members, who demanded reimbursement for expenses. Singer clearly doesn't buy the "expenses" argument.
The demand letter, obtained by TMZ, calls the allegations against Vicky "mean spirited drivel." Singer says band members have tried to "brow-beat her into giving up the rights to her late husband's copyrighted works" by initiating a hate campaign, enlisting "cyber-stalkers and trolls" to harass not only Vicky but her kids.
The letter notes band members have liked defamatory, social media allegations ... like suggesting Vicky operates a brothel from her home and that she "pimped out" her daughter.
Vicky's lawyer succinctly said, "Shame on you and shame on your clients [who] have made millions of dollars off of Chris Cornell's hard work and talent."
The letter ends with a threat of a malicious prosecution lawsuit against not only the band members but their lawyer as well ... that is, unless the band immediately drops its fraud claim against Vicky.
The broken meat supply chain has most Americans worried, but not hunters who are loading their freezers with game -- and it seems a lot more people want to do the same.
We did some digging, and in the past couple months, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic ... several Midwestern and East Coast states, where hunting is common, have seen a major increase in demand for licenses to bag open-range game, fish and fowl.
In Michigan, for example, turkey season kicked off with a bang on April 18 ... and the state’s Department of Natural Resources already sold 97,305 licenses to hunt the bird, far eclipsing the 83,072 number this time last year.
New York, which tragically had the biggest surge of coronavirus cases early on, also saw a surge of its residents going fishing and hunting. Between March and May, the number of licensed anglers grew 30 percent and turkey permit sales spiked about 60 percent.
Similar story in Virginia, where so far this year ... sales of hunting licenses have risen nearly 10 percent and its turkey harvest has perked up by 11 percent.
A couple of heartland states -- Indiana and Iowa -- have also experienced big spikes in hunting and fishing licenses, but officials there don't chalk that up to a potential meat shortage. Instead, they think it's because people have more free time to enjoy the sport of hunting along with the reward of food.
Of course, for those out there who aren't into the whole hunting thing ... there's always plant-based meats. As we told you ... that business is booming too.
Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell's former-fiancee claims he's been so abusive -- verbally and mentally -- that she needs court-ordered protection, and she got it ... TMZ has learned.
Esther Campbell filed new docs asking a judge to keep Harwell the hell away from her, after a series of alleged incidents she's blaming on his battle with substance abuse.
Esther claims Steve did a stint in rehab and seemed to be improving until early this year. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, she claims he fell off the wagon and had to detox in February, but when he got out of treatment ... Steve allegedly stole her phone and destroyed it. Esther also claims he stole her car keys to leave her car windows open in the rain.
She describes him as "vindictive, angry, vile and mean" ... according to the docs, and claims he's not taking his medication for bipolar disorder. We have not confirmed Harwell is bipolar, and he's never discussed it publicly.
As we first reported ... Campbell previously claimed Harwell was making her life a living hell with harassing texts, calls, emails and driving by her house.
The judge granted Esther a temporary restraining order which requires the singer to stop contacting her and stay 200-yards away.
We reached out to Steve's team and they had no comment.
Princess Love is officially waving the white flag on her marriage with Ray J ... because she just filed for divorce after nearly 4 years of marriage.
The "Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood" star filed divorce docs Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court ... and it's not a total surprise, because they were already living separately after tons of relationship drama.
Ray J and Princess tied the knot way back in 2016 but last year the marriage nearly imploded and they got into a blowout fight in Las Vegas.
As we reported ... Ray and Princess were living separately in February, and they had not reconciled after she claimed back in November that he "stranded" her and their daughter, Melody, in Sin City following a heated argument. At the time, Princess was only weeks away from giving birth to their second child.
Princess gave birth to a son, Epik, in January ... but the bundle was not enough to save the marriage.
Ray tried to make amends on Valentine's Day ... going all out and filling their Bev Hills condo with thousands of roses for his wife and daughter, but it still was not enough to save the union.
Princess stopped wearing her wedding ring after the Vegas incident -- Ray J briefly stopped wearing his -- and she threatened divorce ... but nothing came of it until this week when she finally pulled the trigger.
We reached out to the former couple’s manager, David Weintraub, who did not have a comment.
Dr. Phil may be a famous psychologist, but he's also one of the most accomplished jury consultants in America, and he's worried the court system could collapse in the wake of coronavirus, and judges may be dismissing all sorts of cases.
Phil appeared on "TMZ Live" Thursday and he didn't mince words ... the courts are going to be in a major crisis once things start rolling back to normal. For starters, we all have a constitutional right to be judged by a jury of our peers, so how exactly will that work with 12 jurors in a jury box with no room for social distancing?
The figures are daunting. Dr. Phil notes there are upwards of 150,000 jury trials in America every year -- many of them criminal cases -- and if the courts can't figure out how to impanel a jury, lawyers for a lot of these defendants may request they just simply go free.
Phil raises another alarming point ... there are lots of people in jail right now awaiting trial, and a disproportionate number of them are minorities. A lot of inmates don't have the money to bail out, so they sit in breeding grounds for the virus. For some, it's effectively capital punishment.
In case you don't remember ... Phil was Oprah's jury consultant when she was sued by the beef industry and he won that case for her in spectacular fashion. O was so impressed she put him on her show, and as they say, the rest ...
Moments before Ahmaud Arbery was shot, someone called 911, claiming they'd seen the young man running down the street after allegedly looking into a house under construction.
It's unclear who the male caller is, but he said he was watching a black male in a white t-shirt looking into the home. The caller claimed, "He's been caught on camera a bunch before at night. It's kind of an ongoing thing out here."
There had allegedly been a series of break-ins in the Brunswick, GA neighborhood prior to the February 23 shooting. The caller said, "He's running right now. There he goes right now" ... and the 911 dispatcher said she was sending police to the scene.
FEBRUARY 2020
A second call was made to 911, apparently by Gregory McMichael ... the father of Travis McMichael, the man who confronted Ahmaud with a shotgun. The elder McMichael was out of breath during the call, and told the operator there was a "black male running down the street."
Gregory then yelled, apparently to his son, "Stop that damn it, stop! Travis!!"
It's unclear if the second call was made before or after the fatal shots that took 25-year-old Ahmaud's life.
As we reported, video of the incident shows the McMichaels in a white pickup truck blocking the road down which Ahmaud was running. That's what led to the confrontation and a brief wrestling match between Travis and Ahmaud. Seconds later, at least 2 shots were fired and Ahmaud fell to the ground. He died from the gunshot wounds.
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The Arbery family attorney, Lee Merritt, told us a third man was involved in chasing down Ahmaud -- he says the person recording the video was trailing the chase in his own vehicle ... allegedly to block Ahmaud from escaping.
Neither of the McMichaels have been arrested or charged in Ahmaud's death. The release of the video this week has sparked national outrage and demonstrations.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is taking over the case from local police. Merritt told us he wants the Glynn County D.A. to issue arrest warrants immediately ... rather than kicking it up for a grand jury to decide.
NFL star Earl Thomas is lucky to be alive after cops say his wife held a loaded gun less than a foot from his head ... after she allegedly caught him cheating with another woman.
It's all spelled out in court documents obtained by TMZ Sports ... detailing a violent April 13 altercation involving the Baltimore Ravens player, Nina Thomas and several other people.
The Austin Police Dept. responded to a home in the Austin, Texas area at 3:41 AM after getting a call about a disturbance.
When cops arrived, they say "we observed that a black female wearing an orange sweater with a knife in her hand, later identified as Nina Thomas, was chasing a shirtless black male, later identified as Earl Thomas, with a pistol in his hand around a vehicle."
Cops drew their weapons and ordered both Nina and Earl to the ground -- and they complied without incident. That's when the investigation began and things got WILD.
Here's Nina's story, according to court docs ...
Nina claims Earl, 30, left their home earlier in the day after an argument over the NFL player's drinking. She claims Earl's brother, Seth Thomas, picked him up.
But, a short time later, she decided to check on his whereabouts by logging into his Snapchat account -- and that's when she says she found video of Earl with another woman.
Nina says she used Earl's Snapchat account to track his location to a nearby Airbnb rental home ... and says she called up two other women to help her confront Earl at the pad. Nina also claims she grabbed Earl's pistol, a 9mm Berreta, in the process with the intention to "scare him."
When the women arrived at the house, they "discovered Earl and Seth naked in bed with other women."
That's when Nina admits she pulled out the gun and put it to Earl's head -- stating "that she took out the magazine thinking that the gun could not fire." But, cops say Nina was "unaware that the gun had a round in the chamber."
Cops say one of the women in the house shot cell phone video of the incident ... which they say shows Nina pointing the gun at Earl's head "from less than a foot away and it can clearly be seen that Nina's finger was on the trigger and the safety is disengaged."
Fortunately for Earl, cops say the Ravens defensive back was able to wrestle the gun away from her.
Cops say the cell phone video also shows Nina striking Earl in the nose before it ends.
Cops also spoke with Earl, who essentially corroborated the story ... adding that Nina repeatedly hit him while he attempted to take the firearm away.
In an interview with Earl's alleged mistress at the scene, she claimed Nina also threatened her and the other woman in the house -- pointing the gun at them and yelling "I got something for all you hoes!"
The woman claims one of Nina's other friends was carrying a knife and swinging it aggressively during the altercation as well.
After speaking with everyone, cops ultimately arrested Nina and both members of her posse. Nina was booked for burglary of a residence with intent to commit aggravated assault with a deadly weapon -- family violence, and later bonded out.
Earl was NOT arrested.
Court records show Nina was also hit with an emergency protective order ... requiring her to stay 200 yards away from Earl and his alleged mistress.
Earl is one of the best defensive players in the NFL -- he's a 7-time Pro Bowl defensive back who won Super Bowl XLVIII as a member of the Seattle Seahawks.
When contacted by TMZ Sports, Nina's attorney, Jonathan Goins, told us, "I am here to declare that my client unequivocally and categorically denies these allegations and we look forward to our day in court where we can clear her good name."
We also reached out to Earl Thomas for comment before we published the story -- and he released a statement on social media.
"Instead of talking about us, just keep us in y'all prayers," Thomas says. "Stuff like this happens. We try to live the best lives we possibly can. Sometimes it doesn't go as planned."
Chris Cornell's former bandmates are digging in their heels in an escalating legal war against his widow -- and are now wondering where the money she raised from a charity concert really ended up.
Soundgarden is once again responding to Vicky Cornell's lawsuit, filed last year, in which she claims to be the rightful owner of 7 tracks she says she found on Chris' computer after his death.
The band is firing back now, claiming Vicky has been unwilling to provide sufficient information on the proceeds from a tribute concert after Cornell's death.
In docs, obtained by TMZ, the surviving band members say they performed for free based on her promise the proceeds would go to charity, but they claim Vicky never explained where all the money went. They say she's only mentioned $643K going to a medical research charity. The band wants a full accounting of where any other revenue was donated.
Vicky posted a statement, saying, "When you attack the foundation, you attack my husband's legacy. The foundation has nothing to do with who owns Chris' vocal recordings. Their knowingly false allegations are a deliberate attempt to harm not just my credibility, but the foundation my husband and I created and everything WE stand for."
Soundgarden wants damages and for the judge to declare once and for all that they are the rightful owners of the unreleased tracks.
Vicky's attorney, Marty Singer, tells us, "As Chris’ former band members are well aware, every single penny of the proceeds generated by the concert were properly allocated and accounted for and their statements are not only false and defamatory but demonstrate the depths to which Chris’ former bandmates are willing to sink to tarnish his legacy."
Brett Favre is already taking steps to return $1.1 MILLION in payments he received from the state of Mississippi ... claiming he had NO IDEA the cash was coming from a welfare program.
The backstory is bizarre ... officials claim the Mississippi Dept. of Human Services handed out $98 MILLION in welfare funds to 2 non-profit orgs., which were supposed to use the money to help the poor.
Instead, officials say several crooked people in those groups spent MILLIONS on things like concert tickets, football games, lobbyists and more.
Officials say $1.1 million was paid to Favre to deliver speeches in 2017 and 2018 -- but Favre never actually performed.
Auditors flagged the payments -- and although he has not been accused of any wrongdoing, Brett is speaking out to explain his side of the story.
"My agent is often approached by different products and brands for me to appear in one way or another. This request was no different, and I did numerous ads for Families First," Favre said.
"I have never received monies for obligations I didn't meet. To reiterate Auditors White's statement, I was unaware that the money being dispersed was paid for out of funds not intended for that purpose, and because of that I am refunding the full amount back to Mississippi."
"I have spent my entire career helping children through Favre 4 Hope donating nearly $10 million to underserved and underprivileged children in Mississippi and Wisconsin."
"It has brought a ton of joy to my life, and I would certainly never do anything to take away from the children I have fought to help! I love Mississippi and I would never knowingly do anything to take away from those that need it most."
Officials have confirmed Favre has already repaid $500,000 -- and plans to return the remaining $600,000 in various installments.
"I want to applaud Mr. Favre for his good faith effort to make this right and make the taxpayers and TANF families whole,'' Auditor Shad White said in a statement Wednesday.
"To date, we have seen no records indicating Mr. Favre knew that TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program] was the program that served as the source of the money he was paid.''
3:03 PM PT -- DaBaby's attorney, Drew Findling, tells TMZ, "A 100% false accusation which suspiciously pops up in February regarding an alleged incident in November. We can smell another attempted money grab."
DaBaby can't keep his hands to himself ... IF you believe a driver who claims the rapper attacked him when an argument quickly turned physical.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the driver got a call to pick up DaBaby in Vegas back in November, and the rapper and some friends hopped into his Mercedes Sprinter van. We're told after a few stops, DB and his friends sparked a joint and the driver told them that's a no-no.
Cops say the rapper and his friends started cursing out the driver and threatened him. When they got to the Hard Rock Hotel, the driver told his passengers it was time to pay up. The driver claims DB punched him in the back of the head and said, "You ain't the boss."
Our law enforcement sources say one of the suspects said, "You're lucky you're not in my city because I would have killed you cracker motherf***er." We're told DB and co. got their bags, but not before someone allegedly said they "would have left him (the driver) dead on the road."
We're told there's now an active arrest warrant to bring in DaBaby for misdemeanor battery.
12/19/19
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As we've reported ... DaBaby's had his share of trouble recently. Back in December, he was caught on video assaulting a hotel worker in Beverly Hills. DB defended his actions saying the worker was harassing him while he was in the company of his young daughter.
Metta World Peace is no more ... the former NBA superstar says he's changed his name again -- this time to Metta Sandiford-Artest.
The ex-Lakers forward, formerly known as Ron Artest, revealed the latest moniker swap on "Inside the Green Room with Danny Green" this week ... saying the newest change was to honor his wife, Maya Sandiford.
"I actually took my wife's last name and ended it in my last name," Metta said.
Of course, Metta gained GLOBAL fame back in 2011 when he changed his name to Metta World Peace ... explaining at the time he wanted "to inspire and bring youth together all around the world."
But, Metta revealed to Danny Green on the show that he actually was initially embarrassed by it ... saying he thought to himself early on at NBA games, "This is the dumbest thing ever."
In fact, Metta even said there was a time when he was debating changing it all to "Queensbridge" or "So Hood."
But, Metta told Green he eventually got used to "World Peace" ... and didn't feel the need to change it again until this year.
"What's funny is I got married," Metta said, "and my name now is Metta Sandiford-Artest."
By the way ... when it comes to those reports that Metta had changed his name to "Panda Friend" when he moved to play ball in China in '14 -- he said those were just not true.
"People said, 'Metta's changing his name to 'Panda Friend!'" Metta explained. "So I just rode with it!"
3:01 PM PT -- A source close to Tory tells us it was Celina who approached and began to harass him. The two have a very nasty history, and our source says that's proof Powell's got it out for Tory. She's allegedly once bragged about taking his money ... and also allegedly posted his personal number online. We're told the two had never previously met in person.
UPDATE
Our source would not speak to the actions of Kaylin Garcia.
Tory Lanez got into it an argument with a woman, and his formerly rumored girlfriend allegedly attacked her before they made a getaway ... according to a police report.
The alleged victim -- who TMZ's learned is model Celina Powell-- claims she was outside the rapper's Miami condo building Friday when he confronted her and tried to grab her phone.
She claims when she tried to walk away, she got blindsided by Kaylin Garcia. Kaylin's been previously linked to Tory ... she's also a supporting cast member on 'Love & Hip Hop' who used to date Joe Budden.
According to the report ... Garcia approached Powell from behind, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and neck, and yanked her to the ground. Powell told cops Garcia tried to kick her too ... but she was able to roll over and get up.
At that point, Garcia allegedly hopped in Lanez' white Bentley and they took off together ... along with the rapper's bodyguard. According to the report, there's surveillance footage of Lanez getting into his ride, but not the altercation.
Powell tells TMZ ... she lives in the same building as Tory but never met him face to face until Friday. She claims he was upset over her contacting him on Instagram and making fun of him about his hairline ... and the 2 have had online beef before, as well.
Powell tells us she blacked out during the assault and when she awoke, she was badly bruised with back and neck pain. She refused medical care at the scene, according to the report, but she claims she was treated at the hospital later for her injuries.
So far, no arrests have been made, and to be clear ... Garcia is the suspect in the incident, not Lanez.
California Governor Gavin Newsom's battle with Orange County is heating up -- an ex-mayor down there is suing the Guv over the beach closures.
Kevin Muldoon, a former Newport Beach mayor and current city councilman there, claims Newsom's draconian order to close OC beaches -- from Newport Beach and Huntington Beach to Dana Point and San Clemente -- is a clear violation of their constitutional rights to freedom of travel, freedom of assembly and due process ... this according to docs obtained by TMZ.
In docs, Muldoon claims pictures from last month showing packed beaches in the OC that almost immediately triggered beach closures are incredibly misleading. He claims the photos were "taken from a ground level viewpoint, using zoom lenses that artificially compress perspective, seemingly showed beachgoers tightly packed together on Newport Beach."
He claims there are aerial pics that show far more space between beachgoers than the pics in the newspaper implied. What's more ... Muldoon claims it's completely unfair to single out the OC, which he claims has fewer COVID-19 cases than other places that did NOT have their beaches shut down. He claims other cities with closed beaches actually have more COVID cases.
Muldoon, who is suing as an individual and NOT in his official capacity as a councilman, claims sunlight and open-air reduce the likelihood of COVID transmission. It should be noted ... OC beach cities and individuals reportedly sued Newsom on Friday over his beach closures but a judge denied their request to nullify Newsom's order.
As we reported ... tons of pissed off residents flooded downtown Huntington Beach to protest the beach closures. There was also a plane flying a banner over the weekend that read "Fire Gruesome Newsom! Open California!"
Muldoon's asking a judge to declare the gov's order unconstitutional and prohibit its enforcement so peeps can enjoy the beach.
We reached out to Gov. Newsom's office ... so far, no word back.
Tekashi 6ix9ine will be a one-man band for his upcoming music vid because of the coronavirus and, perhaps more importantly, to keep his location secret.
Sources close to Tekashi tell TMZ ... 6ix9ine is going to be the only one in his camera frame in the video, and he's already shooting behind-the-scenes footage.
We're told security guards are helping Tekashi with the labor ... meaning, they'll be behind the lens. If you didn't know, 6ix9ine was a videographer before he became a successful rapper, and later a snitch. So, we're told he'll be starring and directing the video shoot.
Of course, it would be difficult for Tekashi to hire a full crew, anyway. While he can afford it financially -- he's blowing through cash like crazy -- there are still coronavirus quarantine restrictions. Remember, the judge only let him out because he feared getting COVID-19 in prison.
We're told it's possible Tekashi may recruit the help of special guests ... but they'll shoot their own content. He's been quaratining with his girlfriend, Jade, but it's unclear if she'll make an appearance.
Speaking of his health ... the now-infamous snitch is worried about vengeful enemies -- and that means keeping his location hidden while serving out his sentence under in-home incarceration.
TMZ broke the story ... Tekashi recently got the green light from the judge to shoot music videos in his own backyard, and he's dropping hints about a May 8 release.
We're told he's running his security ragged with video shoot labor and other household chores ... like brewing coffee, moving his cars and listening to his prison stories.
Our sources say Tekashi's security asked for a raise, and he agreed. Spend, spend, spend!!!
Heather Locklear's ready to make nice. And, the feeling's mutual with cops 2 years after she went on the attack against them.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Heather's recently been working to repair her relationship with law enforcement, starting with simple acts like stopping Sheriff's deputies around town and saying hello. She's also bought a few cops coffee and chatted.
Then there's this ... in recent months we're told the "Spin City" star attended a Ventura County Sheriff's "Tip-A-Cop" event -- where cops serve as waiters at a local restaurant -- for lunch and returned for dinner.
As for the tip ... we're told she left a super impressive $1,500, which went to a Special Olympics charity. That Heather's taken the steps to bridge the gap with law enforcement has not gone unnoticed with cops. It's a stark contrast to what went down beginning in March 2018.
JUNE 2018
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TMZ broke the story ... police hit up her Thousand Oaks home armed with a search warrant to go look for a gun, this after she told cops "If you ever come back to my house I will shoot you" following her felony domestic violence arrest.
But, things really turned for the worse 3 months later. As we first reported ... Heather was busted after allegedly punching a deputy and kicking an EMT. Heather ultimately pled no contest to 8 misdemeanors and was ordered to 30 days in a residential mental health facility.
Just when it seemed Heather was putting the whole episode behind her ... the EMT -- a single mother of 3 -- wound up suing Heather in November 2018 claiming Heather wished death by AIDS on her children. The suit was ultimately dismissed.
December 2018
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We saw Heather out a month after the EMT filed the lawsuit and she couldn't look any better. She was smiling, being chatty with our photog and enjoying time with her family. She looked just as happy out celebrating her daughter Ava's 22nd birthday.
Heather's incredible turnaround, we're told, has cops beaming. Sources tell us they never took her actions personally and understood she needed help. Now that she's gotten it, we're told cops are ecstatic to see her overcome life obstacles ... especially because they know sobriety is no small feat.
