Britney Spears is set to be arraigned on a DUI charge. But she doesn’t have to appear in court

VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Britney Spears is set to be arraigned in a California courtroom Monday morning after prosecutors charged her with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. But it will probably be only her lawyer who appears in front of a Ventura County judge.

Prosecutors charged the 44-year-old pop superstar with one misdemeanor count on Thursday after her March 4 arrest.

Since then, she voluntarily checked into a substance abuse treatment center. The misdemeanor charge level means she is not required to appear and her absence won’t count against her. She is unlikely to show up, though her representatives haven’t commented on the court case or her plans.

A representative previously called her actions inexcusable and said it would ideally lead to overdue change in her life.

The singer has a home in Ventura County just outside the Los Angeles County line. She was arrested near there. Her arraignment will be held in the city of Ventura, a seaside community of about 110,000 people about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northwest of downtown LA.

Prosecutors said the case will be handled according to their standard protocol for defendants with no DUI history, no crash or injury on the road and a low blood-alcohol level.

They have said that in court on Monday, she will be offered what is commonly known as a “wet reckless.” If she chose that plea, she would be sentenced to a year of probation and be required to take a DUI class and pay state-mandated fines.

The offer is common especially for defendants who have independently shown motivation to address their problems and seek treatment, the district attorney’s office said.

Spears was pulled over for driving her black BMW fast and erratically on U.S. 101, the California Highway Patrol said. She appeared to be impaired, took a series of field sobriety tests, was arrested and was taken to a Ventura County jail, the CHP said.

The former teen pop phenomenon and “Mickey Mouse Club” alum became a defining superstar of the 1990s and 2000s with hits like “Toxic,” “Gimme More” and “I’m a Slave 4 U.” Most of Spears’ nine studio albums have been certified platinum, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, with two diamond titles: 1999’s “ … Baby One More Time” and 2000s “Oops! … I Did It Again.”

She became a tabloid focus in the early 2000s and a source of intense public scrutiny as she battled mental illness and paparazzi fought to document the details of her private life.

In 2008, Spears was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship, run primarily by her father and his lawyers, that would control her personal and financial decisions for well over a decade. It was dissolved in 2021.

Since then, she has married and divorced, and she released a bestselling, tell-all memoir, “The Woman in Me.”

She has essentially been retired as an artist in recent years, releasing only a few collaborative singles since her last full album, “Glory,” in 2016.