By the time Sauer publicly humiliated Baca in court on Friday night and sent the distraught heiress back to jail, critics were unloading on the sheriff who couldn't shoot straight, politically speaking.

"Lee Baca is the most tone deaf politician to come down the pike, " said Republican consultant Patrick Dorinson. He said Baca should have been prepared for fallout because "there was an outcry when [Hilton's] sentence was reduced to 23 days" if she met standards for good behavior in jail. He said the sheriff 's decision to cut her loose put him in the "what was he thinking" realm, a place visited by elected officials all the time.

Hilton was taken screaming from a Los Angeles court after being told to return to jail to serve out her sentence. The celebrity heiress was ordered to attend the hearing rather than listen by telephone. She left jail on Thursday, just three days into a 45-day sentence for violating probation on a driving ban. Her release on unspecified medical grounds had sparked widespread criticism.

Hilton attended court to hear the case for her "reassignment" to house arrest and, crying, said "it's not right" upon being ordered back to jail.

LA county sheriff Lee Baca defended his earlier decision to release Hilton on medical grounds, saying "this lady has some severe problems". He suggested that her problems were psychological.