Tattle: M.J.'s family on hand for his doc's hearing

THE PRELIMINARY hearing against

Michael Jackson

's doc,

Conrad Murray

, began yesterday in Los Angeles with M.J.'s mom,

Katherine

, brother

Jackie

and sister

La Toya

in attendance. On his way into the courtroom, Jackie said that he wanted only one thing from the trial: justice.

Los Angeles County Prosecutor David Walgren said in his opening statement that Murray didn't call paramedics until after Jackson was dead; that he tried to conceal evidence that he gave Jackson a powerful anesthetic called Propofol; and that he administered CPR incorrectly.

Unfortunately, being a sleazeball isn't punishable by law, but in the court of public opinion, Murray is likely to be found guilty.

Ed Chernoff, Murray's lawyer, did not give an opening statement.

The prosecution's star witness is Kenny Ortega, the producer of Jackson's concert film "This Is It." Ortega testified that Jackson was fine in the days before his death, wowing backup dancers with his spunk and stamina.

Lohan-to-hand combat

Lindsay Lohan was allowed to leave the Betty Ford Clinic yesterday but may find herself swapping her civvies for jailbird stripes again.

After a two-week investigation, police in Riverside, Calif., say that Lohan violated her parole after a spat with rehab technician Dawn Holland on Dec. 12. Holland says that Lohan violated her curfew, refused a breathalyzer test and assaulted her when she tried to call police. Lohan says otherwise.

The clinic fired Holland after the scuffle for speaking on the record with TMZ.com, saying that she violated patient-confidentiality rules.

A Beverly Hills judge already warned Lohan that if she violated her probation, she would be sent to the slammer. Riverside Sheriff Sgt. Joe Borja said that his investigators will take their findings to the county district attorney's office for a possible charge of battery for the alleged assault, even though the fired worker said that she is not interested in pursuing criminal charges.

If Lohan does make it back home, it could prove to be awkward. TMZ reported that LiLo's moving to a sweet, four-bedroom pad in Venice, Calif., that happens to be right next door to her ex-girlfriend Samantha Ronson, who told photogs parked outside her home, "Trust me, it wasn't planned." When pressed further Ronson, a DJ, responded, "Dude, I'm way too pissed off right now." Living next to the ex? Girl, we so get it.

Oscar oracles

The Producers Guild of America has released its nominees for outstanding feature films, including many of the usual suspects that have graced previous critics' lists. The films vying for the top honors include "127 Hours," "Black Swan," "Inception," "The Fighter," "The Kids Are All Right," "The King's Speech," "The Social Network," "The Town," "Toy Story 3" and "True Grit."

Good on them for the most part, but Lady Tattle thinks that the absence of Debra Granik's Sundance hit, "Winter's Bone," is a crime against the cinematic community. We say swap out "The Town" for Granik's smaller film.

"Toy Story 3" is also nominated for best animated feature, along with "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Despicable Me."

The Producers Guild is important because it is often a harbinger of Oscar nominations. The winner will be announced on Jan. 22, two days before Oscar nods. The Guild ceremony will be hosted by funnyman/director Judd Apatow.

The Writers Guild of America also announced its best-screenplay nominees, with much duplication of the Producers Guild faves. Vying for best original screenplay are "Inception," "The Kids Are All Right," "Black Swan," "The Fighter" and "Please Give." Best adapted screenplay nods went to "True Grit," "127 Hours," "I Love You Phillip Morris," "The Social Network" and "The Town."

Some notable films, like "The King's Speech" and "Toy Story 3," were disqualified because they were not written within the guidelines of the Writers Guild. These ineligibles left room for surprise nods to the likes of "Please Give" and "I Love You Phillip Morris," which haven't had nearly as much critics' love as the other films. The WGA winners will be announced Feb. 5.

Tattbits

* The Navy has relieved Capt. Owen Honors of his commanding duties after the Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported on videos of the USS Enterprise-helmer using homophobic slurs and inappropriate sexual innuendo. The videos were shown in 2006-7 during movie nights when Honors was the Enterprise's second in command. He had been promoted to commander of the aircraft carrier, but has now been relegated to desk duty.

Honors used the visage of "Damages" actress Glenn Close in one of the videos and she's not happy about it. In a statement released yesterday, Close said that her appearance in the videos was deeply offensive and insulting. Capt. Honors should know not to get on the wrong side of Close. Hasn't he seen "Fatal Attraction"? Watch out for bunnies in the mess hall, Captain.

* The gavel is about to come down on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. His ex-lady friend, Lillian McEwen, a retired administrative law judge who dated Thomas in the '80s, has penned "D.C. Unmasked and Undressed," a "sexually driven" memoir.

McEwen made headlines last fall when she told the Washington Post that Thomas was fond of making inappropriate comments and even fonder of porn, going as far as calling him obsessed. "D.C. Unmasked" is scheduled for a late February release from TitleTown Publishing.

* Ignatiy Vishnevetsky will be half of the new team for "Ebert Presents At the Movies," the movie review show made famous by the thumbs-up stylings of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. Siskel passed away in 1999 and Ebert can no longer speak due to cancer surgeries. The "At the Movies" format has seen several lineup changes in their absence. Ebert still serves as executive producer, along with his wife, Chaz.

Vishnevetsky, 24, writes for film site Mubi and contributes to the Chicago Reader. His co-host is the previously announced Christy Lemire, film critic for the Associated Press. Lemire and Vishnevetsky? Doesn't really roll off the tongue like Siskel and Ebert, does it? The new season premieres Jan. 21 on PBS.

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

HOWARD GENSLER

is on vacation.