Profile:
Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles in the National Lampoons Vacation movies, The Last Detail (1973), Independence Day (1996), Kingpin (1996), Brokeback Mountain (2005), and the CBS miniseries Elvis (2005). He has won the Golden Globe Award, and has been nominated for the Academy Award, Emmy Award and BAFTA Award.

Case:

Quaid is the 59-year-old star of “The Last Detail,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation” and “Independence Day,” just to mention a handful of his 60-plus film roles. Until recently recognized as a likeable character actor, Quaid and his wife Evi have been the subject of criminal prosecution following their June 2008 stay at The San Ysidro Ranch, where they allegedly skipped out on a $10,000 hotel bill.

The Quaids were arrested in September 2009 in Marfa, Texas on outstanding warrants from Santa Barbara Superior Court, where they failed to make scheduled appearances. Extradition orders were filed in Santa Barbara, and the Quaids eventually made voluntary appearances, according to Santa Barbara County sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Drew Sugars. Motions for continuance were filed at that time, with further courtroom appearances scheduled for this past Monday.

When the Quaids failed to make their appearance, their attorney Robert Sanger admitted that he had no knowledge of his clients’ whereabouts. A bench warrant for their arrest was immediately issued. Santa Barbara Assistant District Attorney Arnold Tolks, in a prepared statement, indicated that he had little faith in the defendants’ responding to the warrant absent another arrest for failure to appear.

“They don’t talk to me,” commented Tolks. “Their attorney’s representative said they were in contact with him and he indicated they were on the way in … but that didn’t happen.”

The Brokeback Mountain star and his wife, Evi, were jailed by a judge in Santa Barbara, California on Monday to make sure they returned for a hearing into their 2009 fraud and burglary case on Wednesday – after a series of court no-shows.

Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa told the couple they had been disrespectful by refusing to show up for arranged court dates, including one they missed earlier this month.

The pair was then taken into custody - but spent less than four hours behind bars after offering up the bail money, according to the Associated Press.

Their lawyer, Robert Sanger, said the Quaids hope to resolve the case without a trial.

The legal wrangling stems from a September (09) arrest after the couple allegedly failed to pay a $US10,000 hotel bill following a stay at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara.

Arrest warrants were issued for Quaid and his wife when they failed to show up in court on April 12.

They have had a number of warrants issued for their arrest over past court no-shows - each one was later quashed.




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