Real Housewives OC Star Skips Court, Fugitive Status Explained

NEWPORT BEACH, CA —"Real Housewives of Orange County" cast member Gina Kischenheiter failed to appear in court Thursday on DUI charges, prompting an Orange County Superior Court judge to issue a warrant for her arrest which turned out as a misunderstanding, her attorney said.

As is usual in misdemeanor cases, Gina Kirschenheiter, 34, was not required to appear in court Thursday for her arraignment. But when her attorney failed to appear on her behalf, an Orange County Superior Court judge at the Harbor Justice Center issued a warrant for her arrest.

Kirschenheiter hired attorney Michael Fell on Thursday night and the lawyer went before the judge Friday morning to get the warrant recalled and to two pending traffic tickets dismissed.

Kirschenheiter, who joined the "Housewives" cast last season and whose divorce was a major storyline on the show, was pulled over on Jan. 30 in Coto de Caza.

Two weeks later, Kirschenheiter, 34, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of .08, both misdemeanors, according to court records. She was accused of having a blood-alcohol level of .20, according to the complaint.

Fell said his client wants to use her case to warn others of the risks of driving impaired.

"She wants to use this opportunity to educate people about the dangers of drinking and driving and to educate about the law," he said. " She wants to show how really easy it is to get a DUI. There's a lot of people out there who don't realize those two glasses of wine can not only put you over the limit, but impair you for the purposes of driving."

She wrote a lengthy apology for her actions on her Instagram account.