Zeta-Jones Stalker Hearing Postponed

LOS ANGELES – A preliminary hearing for a woman accused of sending death threats to Catherine Zeta-Jones (search) was postponed Thursday because the alleged stalker was groggy from sleeping pills, the defendant's lawyer said.

Dawnette Knight (search), 32, took two pills that she apparently bought from someone in the Los Angeles County jail, attorney Richard Herman said outside court.

"She just wanted a good night's sleep. She just wanted sleeping pills, and these worked real well," he said.

Knight did not appear in court Thursday. The night before, she fell asleep on the jail floor and was sent to a hospital for an evaluation after jail personnel were unable to rouse her, Herman said.

Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg rescheduled the hearing for Friday afternoon, saying Knight "appears to still feel the effects" of the pills, which were not prescribed for her.

Zeta-Jones and her husband, Michael Douglas (search), testified a day earlier during the preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to send Knight to trial.

Zeta-Jones said she felt overwhelming fear after learning about the death threats contained in letters that were sent to her employees, family members and friends.

She read from 19 of the letters. Some suggested she would be chopped into pieces "like Sharon Tate was," and referred to the violent deaths of President Kennedy (search) and Nicole Brown Simpson.

"We are going to slice her up like meat on a bone and feed her to the dogs," one letter said.

Knight, who apologized last month in a letter that claimed she had been infatuated with Douglas, was arrested June 3 at her Beverly Hills apartment after authorities traced several letters and phone calls.

She was charged with one felony count of stalking and 24 felony counts of making criminal threats, and was held on $1 million bail.

"She's very, very sorry that all this happened," Herman said outside court Thursday. "She had no idea that it would have caused such distress. She's represented to me her remorse on many occasions."