Lohan heads back to court
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- If a deal is not reached, the case will go to another judge
- At last hearing, the judge told Lindsay Lohan that any plea deal will include jail time
- She is accused of stealing a necklace from a jewelry store
- The store says it will sell the necklace at auction
Check out CNN affiliate KTLA-TV in Los Angeles for updates on the hearing.
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Actress Lindsay Lohan heads back to court Thursday to say if she will accept a plea deal on a felony charge of stealing a $2,500 necklace. Lohan is also facing possible jail time for violating her probation for a drunk driving arrest because of the theft charge.
If a plea deal is not reached in Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz's courtroom, the case will go to another judge for a preliminary hearing and a possible trial, he said.
At her last appearance in February, the judge warned Lohan that any plea deal would involve jail time.
"If you plead in front of me, you are going to jail, period!" Schwartz told Lohan during the February 23 hearing.
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Thursday's hearing will mark Lohan's ninth court appearance in 10 months.
The actress is accused of walking out with a necklace from Kamofie and Company, a jewelry store in Venice, California, on January 22.
The case against Lohan took another twist this week when the jewelry store sold the rights to the security video of Lohan -- which is key to the prosecution -- to the Associated Press for an undisclosed price.
"We hope that everyone understands that this is beyond our control, the flood of the requests to see this video were simply too overwhelming," a representative for the store said Tuesday. "It was truly necessary to put it out."
The store owners said Wednesday they will auction off the necklace and donate the proceeds to charity.
"Sofia Kaman would rather the money go to help an appropriate charity, since at least that way some good can result from this incident," the store said.
The auction will have to wait until the case is resolved, since the necklace is being held as evidence by prosecutors, the store said.
The felony grand theft charge triggered a charge that Lohan violated her probation for a 2007 drunk driving conviction.
The actress is free on bond on the probation violation and the grand theft charge while her lawyer and the prosecutor discuss a plea deal, or until a full hearing.
The penalty for a felony grand theft conviction ranges from 16 months to three years in a California state prison. The exact term would be based on the value of the property stolen and the criminal record of the defendant.
Shoplifting offenses are charged as petty theft if the property taken is valued at less than $950. The store owner claims the "one of a kind" necklace is worth $2,500, police said.
CNN's Douglas Hyde contributed to this report
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