The heiress Paris Hilton was released from jail yesterday to serve the remaining 40 days of her 45-day sentence under house arrest - seemingly swapping a cell of three by two metres for her Beverly Hills mansion, complete with pools, terraces and rococo flourishes.
But within hours, the judge who originally put her in jail ordered her back to court to determine whether she should be put back behind bars.
Los Angeles county sheriff's department had released Hilton citing unspecified medical reasons. A spokesman said that following "extensive consultations with medical personnel" the 26-year-old had been reassigned to a "community-based alternative to custody".
But late yesterday a court spokesman said: "The city attorney filed a petition for an order to show cause why the sheriff should not be held in contempt for releasing Ms Hilton." He said Hilton had to report to court at 9am today.
Shortly after midnight on Wednesday she was fitted with an electronic ankle-bracelet at the Century Regional Detention Facility, in Lynwood, Los Angeles, and transferred to her attorney at 2.09am.
While the sheriff's department had insisted that the heir to a share of the Hilton Hotel fortune, who violated her probation over a drink-driving case, would not get special treatment, the move brought instant condemnation yesterday.
"She has been given the same treatment that any other rich and famous person would get," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at the Loyola law school in Los Angeles. "Paris Hilton has one of the best lawyers in the country and I suspect this deal was done from day one. She's a pain in the backside for the jail system."
Earlier, TV hosts and pundits, revelling in the unexpected turn of the story, had expressed outrage that an apparently different set of rules applied to celebrities. Michael Musto, a Village Voice columnist, told MSNBC: "She obviously feels she's above the law. Her sentence went from 45 days to 'just spend a bit of time in your luxury villa'. There are people with serious medical conditions in prison. They are not given special treatment, they are told to stay in their cell."
There was also scepticism about the ailment that led to Hilton's release from a term in jail expected to last only 23 days. At the MTV movie awards ceremony she attended on Sunday before checking in to prison she appeared healthy.
A psychologist who saw her on Wednesday was reported to have said she was faring well in jail, though she complained about a lack of sleep and the hot dog and beans she got for her first meal.
Professor Levenson warned that the release might not be welcomed by other celebrity defendants, such as Phil Spector, now on trial in Los Angeles for murder. "Phil Spector's lawyer might not be very happy," she said. "This may work for drink-driving cases but not for murder. There could be a backlash against celebrity justice following this."