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We'll admit to perhaps being in the tiniest amount of denial about this Kiefer Sutherland DUI situation, as we spent most of the week trying to convince ourselves that the story was just some kind of hallucinatory side effect of our own Tuesday morning hangover. But then news arrives about charges being officially filed today and it becomes a little harder to ignore the fact that America's most lovable, belt-sander-wielding, Geneva-convention-violating counterterrorist (see, there we go again, emotionally defending ourselves by imagining he's as invulnerable as Jack Bauer) could be in some real jeopardy:

The star of the Fox TV drama 24 was charged with single counts of driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 or above, said city attorney spokesman Nick Velasquez. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a minimum of four days, Velasquez said.

"We also charged him with a second DUI offense within 10 years, which we believe also violates the terms of his probation," Velasquez added.

If found guilty of violating probation, Sutherland could be sentenced to an additional six months.



While we know we can't avoid reality forever, we're happy to retreat back into fantasy for a little while longer, at least until the next update about the progress of the DUI proceedings. Excuse us while we close our eyes and envision Kiefer giving us a thumbs-up from across Ye Rustic Inn just moments before throwing his body into a Christmas tree, helping his evergreen adversary back to an upright position, then hooking his car keys on one of its branches as he whispers apologetically, "Hey, buddy, sorry about that. How about you give me a ride home? You know, the probation and all that. Can't be too careful."