Britney Spears' Case : Court says Spears still cannot visit sons

LOS ANGELES, California -- A court commissioner decided Monday to keep in effect an order suspending Britney Spears' right to visit her two sons and keeping them in the custody of ex-husband Kevin Federline.
The ruling by Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon came after a full day of testimony on a bizarre situation this month in which police had Spears taken to a hospital after a standoff in her home when she refused to return the children to Federline. Gordon scheduled another hearing for February 19.
Federline, sporting a mohawk-style haircut, was present with his attorney when the hearing began. But Spears was nowhere to be seen until early afternoon -- and then only for a few frenzied minutes.
An SUV brought her into a downtown garage, but only her attorneys got out before the vehicle left. It later stopped outside the courthouse, where Spears got out of a passenger seat and took over the driver's seat.
Her attendance at the hearing was not required but was considered by lawyers to be important if she is to regain the right to visit her two sons.
Gordon allowed reporters into the courtroom for about one minute before he announced that the hearing was being closed.
The commissioner granted a motion Monday from Spears' attorneys to quash a subpoena, but there was no information about what the subpoena involved or to whom it had been issued.
A group of people, possibly witnesses, were later allowed into the courtroom.
Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini, who was in court, told reporters at late morning that the first of an expected eight or nine witnesses had taken the stand. The number of witnesses suggested the hearing could last most of the day.
A throng of photographers and reporters waited outside the downtown courthouse to see if Spears, 26, would come to what one attorney described as "the most significant hearing in the case so far." Law enforcement officers watched over the scen.
But Spears has had trouble making recent legal dates: On December 12, she called in sick for a court-ordered deposition, then arrived nearly two hours late at an attorney's office on its rescheduled date, January 3.
Neither Spears nor Federline were under order to appear Monday. But Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, suggested in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that it would be important for her to be there.
"You can't phone this one in," he said.
Kaplan said he knew it was only a temporary measure when he obtained emergency court orders two weeks ago granting sole physical and legal custody to Federline.
Among those expected to testify, Kaplan said, were police and emergency medical technicians who were summoned to Spears' home the night of Jan. 3.
A court-appointed monitor called police when Spears refused to hand over Jayden James, 1, and Sean Preston, 2, to Federline's security guard. She locked herself in a room with one of the boys.
Police officers spent hours at the house and then called fire department paramedics, who placed Spears on a gurney and took her to a hospital with a crowd of paparazzi in pursuit. She left Cedars-Sinai Medical Center a day and half later.
Police have released no information about why Spears was taken to the hospital.
TV's "Dr. Phil" McGraw told celebrity news programs he was with Spears as she was released, saying she was in "dire" need of medical and psychological help. That drew a rebuke from Spears' relatives.
The day after the incident, Kaplan presented papers to the court commissioner, who awarded sole legal and physical custody of the children to Federline and suspended Spears' visitation rights.
Kaplan said if visitation is restored, it would be under more restrictions than those originally imposed by Gordo