Britney Spears' "Cries for Help" Lead to Three-Year Restraining Orders for Ex-Manager, Lawyer

A Los Angeles judge instructed Britney Spears' former manager Sam Lutfi and lawyer Jon Eardley not to contact, threaten or act on behalf of the pop star until 2012, according to the AP. As Rock Daily previously reported, the two men, along with Spears' paparazzo ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib, were accused of attempting to overturn Jamie Spears' conservatorship over his daughter. That legal agreement grants Jamie control of Britney's finances as well as legal and business decisions; it stems from Spears' breakdown in January 2008, which led to the singer being hospitalized twice and losing primary custody of her two sons.

(Track Britney's rise, fall and comeback, in photos.)

During testimony in this case, the judge heard an alleged voicemail from Spears in which she asks for help, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Aviva K. Bobb ultimately sided with Jamie Spears. "Never before in the history of the world has a restraining order been issued against someone who merely responded to cries for help," Lutfi's lawyer Bryan Freedman said. Spears' attorney Joel Boxer admitted that the restraining order request was "unusual," but argued it was necessary in order to protect the Cirus singer from "people who I think are fairly characterized as predators." Lutfi and Eardley both posited that the conservatorship is a misuse of power, as it normally only applies to people mentally incapable of making their own decisions; as Britney is currently on tour performing to thousands on a nightly basis, she therefore seems competent enough to speak on her own behalf.

Last month, Ghalib was also handed a three-year restraining order, which he did not fight in court.

Related Stories:

• Is Britney Spears' Life a "Prison" Under Conservatorship? Accusations Fly in Courtroom
• Lawyer Wants Britney Spears To Testify in Restraining Order Case
• Behind the Britney Story: A Conversation with Writer Jenny Eliscu

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