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Witherspoon's Punishment: $100 Fine & A Viral Arrest Video

Actress Reese Witherspoon on Friday "pleaded no contest and paid a $100 fine [for] berating a state trooper in Atlanta while her husband was given a sobriety test," The Associated Press writes.

Her punishment for that bad behavior doesn't stop there. TMZ.com obtained dashcam video of the Legally Blonde star's arrest, which happened in the early morning hours of April 19.

The embarrassing video, which of course has gone viral, is posted here. It's safe to say that it's not one of her proudest performances. Her husband, Jim Toth, appears to realize that she's headed for big trouble as Witherspoon says things such as "I'm an American citizen!" and "do you know my name, sir?" He looks back at the dashcam more than once.

"I tried," Georgia State Trooper First Class J. Pyland tells Toth after handcuffing the actress and putting her in his patrol car. Pyland had warned her several times not to interfere.

"I'm sorry," Toth replies. "I had nothing to do with that" (her behavior).

Soon after the incident, Witherspoon released a statement saying she was deeply embarrassed and had been "disrespectful to the officer who was just doing his job." Thursday on ABC-TV's Good Morning America, Witherspoon apologized again, calling the couple's decision to drive after having wine with dinner "poor judgment."

"We made a mistake and it was something that will never happen again" she said of that decision and her behavior at the scene.

Witherspoon had been charged with obstruction. Toth, the AP adds, "pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of drunken driving, Graham said. He was fined $600 and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service and participate in a program for DUI offenders."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.